The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana, has called on various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to as a matter of urgency reduce prices of petroleum products.
The Chamber in a statement said, “pump prices remain largely unchanged from the previous pricing window figures, at a time when world market prices have seen a slump from $49/barrel to the current $44/barrel region.”
It further stated that, although petroleum consumers expect prices to go down to commensurate movements on the world market, the various OMCs have refused to effect the reduction.
“Petroleum consumers in Ghana expect prices to go down to commensurate movements on the world markets but the various oil marketing companies (OMCS) with the exception of a few who have adjusted downwards by a few points, a majority of these omcs seem to have turned a deaf ear to doing the needful as far as reducing pump prices is concerned and are still charging very high prices at the pumps.”
“World market indexes continue to hover around $45/barrel as of this day and time representing over 7% since the last decreases in the early part of the month when the world market indexes were trading around $49/ barrel.
The phenomenon where consumers continue to be shortchanged when the time comes for reductions in pump prices is clearly becoming institutionalized and must be checked forthwith,” it added.
Petroleum consumers demand tax cuts
The Chamber in April this year, made similar calls for government to reduce the 17.5 % taxes imposed on petroleum products which took effect in January this year.
The Chamber contended that, the continuous imposition of the taxes will adversely affect Ghanaians.
“The chamber is unhappy at all with the 17.5% special petroleum tax; it looks as though the biggest challenge for most of these petroleum service providers currently is this tax component. If they were buying a barrel for 40 dollars and they are paying 17.5%, that will definitely be lower compared to when the prices of crude increases to 46 dollars a barrel.”
“When that happens, they are forced to pass on that to the Ghanaian consumers which is what we are expecting to see on May 1st,” Executive Secretary of the Chamber, Duncan Amoah earlier told Citi Business News.
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