Former Boss of National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Nana Yaw Atefuah has called on government to reduce the price of fuel per the automatic adjustment formula which was agreed on as the means to either reduce or increase fuel price in the country based on the world market price of the commodity.
According to him, the price of international crude oil has slide down from $114 from the middle of June 2014 to $55 a barrel as at yesterday (Tuesday); insisting that if one multiplies the $55 by the current 3.2 exchange rate, the cedi value of the product has reduced which should compel the government to reduce the price of fuel.
Speaking on Oman Fm’s Morning Show, the former NPA Boss demanded of the government to tell Ghanaians the actual debt remaining for the country and when the country can finish the payment of the debt since it is not clear the kind of debt hanging on the neck of NPA.
He maintained that the reason given by NPA concerning its reluctance to reduce the fuel price is a smoke-screen.
He asserted that government reduced the price of fuel in October with the expectation that the world price of crude oil will go up again but unfortunately for the government, it has rather reduced drastically.
“The people who are calling for reduction of fuel price are right because the automatic adjustment formula should be used to determine the price of fuel in the country; unless we are saying it is not international crude oil price and exchange rate which is used for the calculation…..by now, the ex-refinery should be reduced by 44% and then you add the taxes to the price; so 44% drop from the ex-refinery is a significant drop for the fuel price to be reduced. I don’t believe anybody can say that they cannot reduce fuel price; it will be unfair to say that to Ghanaians”, he posited.
In a related development, reports indicate government still owes the BDCs as much as $250 million in forex losses incurred due to the depreciation of the cedi this year.
As if that is not disturbing enough, government also owes additional 175 million cedis as subsidy on refined products.
Source: Daniel Adu Darko/ Peacefmonline.com/gh [Email:[email protected]]
| Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
