The National Petroleum Authority, NPA, is confident that the two-month removal of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levies (PRSL) on petrol, diesel, and LPG will provide the desired relief to Ghanaians when it takes effect.
Though the government missed its November 1 target to remove the levy because the required legislation has not been passed, the Authority’s CEO, Dr. Mustapha Hamid, said there were already positive signs for Ghanaians because fuel prices have remained stable pending the removal of the levy.
“Once the people have seen at the pump that this week, the prices haven’t gone up, it gives them a measure of confidence that going forward, there will be a measure of stability,” Dr. Hamid said to the press on Tuesday in Koforidua.
“We were hopeful that from the first November window we would not see astronomical jumps at the pump. I haven’t seen that which will suggest to me that the price stabilisation and recovery levy removal is working.”
“They [fuel prices] have been stable, which is exactly what we intended it to be; that in this window the prices do not go up even though the international prices have still gone up,” Dr. Hamid added.
Currently, the PSRL is 16 pesewas per liter on petrol, fourteen pesewas per litre (GHp14/Lt) on diesel, and fourteen pesewas per kilogram (GHp14/Kg) on LPG.
The purpose of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PSRL) is to stabilise prices for consumers and pay for the subsidies on Premix Fuel and Residual Fuel Oil.
Prices of crude oil and refined petroleum products have seen sharp increases on the world market due to a rise in demand for oil globally without a corresponding increase in supply.
In Ghana, this has led to petrol, for example, reaching as high as GHS 6.8 per litre.
The recent fuel price increases have led to threats to increase transport fares.
Source: Citinewsroom