Fuel prices are expected to dip by 70 pesewas following the amendments of the bill on the Special Petroleum tax Thursday.
This means one would be paying about GH¢4.50pesewas for a gallon of petrol beginning tomorrow (Friday February 16, 2018) instead of GH¢4.67pesewas.
The president is expected to assent the bill today, Thursday February 15, 2018 so the adjustment could take effect in the next pricing window which opens Friday.
The Finance Ministry Wednesday laid a bill before parliament to have the Special Petroleum Tax reduced from 15 to 13 percent.
This was partly due to pressure from sections of the public for a complete scrap of the tax component on petroleum products.
Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Mark Assibey Yeboah said the drop in the price of crude on the world market is expected to cause a marginal decrease in the cost of petrol and diesel at the pumps.
“If we kept prices where they are now a litter of petrol GH¢4.66pesewas, diesel is also GH¢4.66pesewas [and] if we didn’t bring this amendment and things stay the same and because there is a drop in international price of crude, we would have seen a marginal decline from 4.67 to about 4.58. With this new specificity being introduced into the tax, if this should kick in immediately we should see a decline to about 4.5 on the 4.6. We are looking at saving about 70pesewas per gallon,” he told Starr News’ Parliamentary Correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan.
In a related development, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) is also predicting a marginal decrease in its review of the February 2018 first pricing window.
“On the basis of positive indicators recorded within the period under review; being the stability of the local currency, the drop in crude oil prices and Gasoline and Gasoil prices; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees prices at the pump dropping slightly,” said the IES.
However, it added the “prices may remain stable at the pumps if OMCs decide to rake in some revenues as a result of recent sacrifices made.”
