Price hike in petroleum products unjustified - IMANI boss fumes

daniel russell

May 18, 2015 9:26 AM

According to him, the increment would have been understandable at a time when economic hardship has been managed

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The Founder and Chief Executive officer of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has said the timing of the fuel increment is wrong.

According to him, the increment would have been understandable at a time when economic hardship has been managed.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), last Saturday increased petroleum products by 9% with effect from Sunday, May 17, 2015. Petrol will now be sold at GHc3.33 per litre while Diesel will be sold at GHc3.24 per litre. A kilogram of LPG is expected to be sold at GHc2.88, MGO Local will go up GHc2.96. Unified petroleum is expected to go up by 4% while Kerosene will be up by 9%. However, prices of premix fuel and RFO remain the same.

Reacting to this in a Facebook post, the IMANI boss said there is no reasonable justification for the increment in petroleum prices. Read below what Franklin said on Facebook“There cannot be a reasonable justification for a price hike in petroleum products. Not now at least when every economic leaf has been squeezed of all its nutrients. I have seen that the Ghanaian currency, the cedi has deeply depreciated against the major currencies again and some say it has impacted the current price hike on petroleum products. If as suggested, this 9% price hike is to offset further depreciation of the cedi against major currencies, the answer lies in better economic management, not wanton panicky measures.I have also learnt of a 1 percentage point increase in the Bank of Ghana policy rate from 21% to 22% on May 13, a week after the government, through the Ministry of Trade, Bank of Ghana and all major civil society heads and banking professionals lamented over the high cost of credit in Ghana in a big conference. I was invited to be a panellist, but I declined as I knew it would have been a total waste of my time. I was justified. “

daniel russell