Oil price fall: NPP tells Gov’t to "reduce fuel prices now"

The main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) says fuel prices must be reduced immediately since the price of crude has consistently fallen on the international market to record levels.

Last week, US crude closed below $60 a barrel for the first time in five and a half years, sliding amid new concerns consumption will lag far behind surging output.

The decline came on top of falls of more than $2 on Wednesday after the Opec producers’ cartel said demand for the group’s crude in 2015 would be the lowest in a decade and below current levels.

A statement signed by the NPP’s Director of Communication, Nana Akomea, said: “There is no doubt that the cost of living in recent times has been unbearable for the vast majority of Ghanaians, a direct result of the calamitous fall in the value of the Cedi over the last three (3) years and the very high increases in the prices of water, electricity, petrol and the rate of VAT.”

“At GHC15-a-gallon of petrol in Ghana, oil was selling above 100 dollars a barrel, and the dollar was trading at an average of GHC3.80p. Since then, oil has fallen to about $60 a barrel, and the dollar is trading at an average of GHC3.20p.

“By these price movements, petrol should be selling around GHC13 a gallon. The current price of about GHC17-a-gallon is, therefore, highly extortionate and inconsiderate of the hardships Ghanaians are going through,” the statement said Monday.

The party says the “Government has given an excuse that it owes the Bulk Distribution Companies for forex losses.”

“This is highly untenable because the forex losses are as a result of the government’s inability to maintain the value of the Cedi. Ghanaians have also not been told when these supposed losses will be fully covered.”

Meanwhile, the party added, the price of oil continues to fall. “The NPP calls on the government to, as a matter of urgency, apply the automatic adjustment formula to reduce the price of petrol,” the statement added.

It said: “The current hardships caused by the high cost of living are not sustainable. Ghanaians deserve some relief now by the immediate reduction in the price of petrol in accordance with the reduction in the prices of oil and the dollar.”



Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5fm