THE explanation given to last Sunday's increment of petroleum prices seems not to have gone down well with the general public and other identifiable groups.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has attributed the increment to the depreciation of the cedi, rising prices of finished products as well as crude oil prices on the world market.
The Authority has also explained that the increment was done to avert an imminent fuel shortage.
However it is even more intriguing if not confusing to recall the reaction of the Deputy Minister for Transport, Ms Joyce Bawa Mogtari when the increment was first announced.
She said the increment had come to government as a surprise. However, in the same vein, the Deputy Minister in a recent interview with Accra based Joy FM admitted that the hikes had come as a result of government's implementation of the deregulation policy.
According to her, "a few things have also changed; prices of crude have inched up slightly. This has called for a review of the current rates and prices of petroleum products."
Per the new prices, petrol will be selling at GH¢3.33 per litre up from the current price of GH¢3.5 whole diesel will also be selling at GH¢3.24 up from the old price of GH¢2.97 per litre.
A kilogramme of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is selling at GH¢2.88 from the old price of GH¢2. 64. MGO Local has gone up from GH¢2.71 to GH¢2.96.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has since then criticized the increment, noting that "no amount of explanation can justify the 9 per cent increment of petroleum prices."
In a statement, the Secretary General of the TUC, Kofi Asamoah said he was convinced that the rising crude prices and the depreciation of the cedi alone cannot warrant the recent petroleum price increase as announced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
“We believe that the overriding factor that has led to the increase has to do with the pressure the Bulk Oil Distributing Companies (BDCs) are putting on NPA,” the statement said.
It will be recalled that government after months of heavy public backlash reduced fuel prices by 10% in January 2015.
According to the TUC, the increment has not only neutralized the positive effects of the 10 per cent reduction government made in January, this year but it has “actually worsened the already harsh economic conditions Ghanaians are forced to cope with especially at this time when businesses are laying off thousands of workers because of erratic power supply and a steady rise in cost of doing business in Ghana as well as the rising cost of living.”
The statement questioned why the NPA resorted to the use of the Automatic Adjustment Formula (AAF) in determining the new prices but failed to do same in determining fuel prices when crude oil prices on the international market fell drastically.
According to Kofi Asamoah, the TUC finds it “extremely appalling that in this period of a crippling energy crisis and its attendant debilitating effects on the economy and on the economic and social conditions of the good people of Ghana, the NPA has found it convenient to increase prices of petroleum products in the interest of the so-called BDCs at the expense of the entire population of Ghana.”
He therefore demanded a reversal of the increment and "rather organize a stakeholder consultation on fuel pricing."
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