The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers has called on government to review some tariffs on petroleum products to reduce the cost of petrol at the pump as a matter of urgency.
In the first pricing window of 2017, prices of some petroleum products went up by 11 percent.
[contextly_sidebar id=”zqHEnTg8wOK3vSCMCr3Nni15Cwddgfqv”]But the chamber believes a possible review will make up for the recent increases caused by the depreciation of the cedi.
Consumers have started complaining about the cost of fuel at the pump.
Executive Secretary for the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, Duncan Amoah, said government must move to curtail the incessant increases.
“Primarily, what is accounting for all of this seems to be the Cedi depreciating further against the dollar; and in the industry, speculation is that, it is going to hit about 4.5 before the end of the month [January],” he explained.
“Today as we speak, the petroleum tax alone is driving all of us to the point we are seeing ourselves in… the taxes that we have been complaining about like I indicated; the national petroleum tax initially, was around 33 pesewas per litre, but today it has shot up to almost 54-55 pesewas per litre,” Mr. Amoah said.
Checks by Citi Business News indicated that, the price of a litre of petrol went up between 8 and 11 percent, while the same quantity for a litre of diesel is up between 9 and 11 percent.
A litre of petrol at some major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), is now selling between GHc 4 and GHc 4.15. These hikes have attracted some agitation from consumers who say the increment is too high.
Some commercial drivers have also begun adjusting their fares following the increase in fuel prices.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana