The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has warned the public to prepare to pay more for fuel at the pumps in the coming weeks due to the depreciation of the cedi.
The warning comes after some oil marketing companies started increasing prices at the pumps despite projections that prices would go down from mid-May.
The companies have blamed the decision to increase prices on uncertainties in the exchange rate market.
As of Tuesday, May 21, 2024, one dollar was selling for GH¢15.20 at Forex Bureaus.
The Executive Secretary of the Chamber, Duncan Amoah, said oil marketing companies are struggling due to exchange rate volatilities.
Mr. Amoah disclosed that even though some of the oil marketing companies are exploring other innovative ways to minimize the impact of the cedi’s depreciation on their operations, the instability is making it difficult to plan.
“Once you have a currency that you can’t predict its performance in the next two to three months, then you are forcing the importers to determine what values to set their pricing,” he said.
He argued that business owners will always react to market expectations and make their forecasts based on the performance of the currency.
“If the importer is done selling his fuel, he has to pay the suppliers. He needs more cedis than he did when he was setting the price. A certain overrun may have occurred,” he said.
Mr. Amoah said importers are saddled with costs because they need more cedis to buy the same amount of dollars that were initially used to import the product.
“So clearly, something must be done, and the government has a duty to ensure the stability of the cedi,” he said.
He further indicated that the performance of the cedi and how various finished petroleum products are selling on the international market have been major factors in determining fuel prices at the pumps.
However, most of the oil marketing companies decided to leave the prices unchanged since last Thursday because of the cedi’s depreciation.
Another major player in the industry, Allied Oil, told Joy Business that the company will also review its prices upwards but will still be below the 14 cedi mark.
Mercy Addai/ Ahotoronline.com
