NPP questions why fuel prices remain high despite improved economic indicators
NPP Deputy Secretary says government should review fuel taxes and levies to ease transport costs amid improving economic indicators.
The Deputy Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Navrongo Central Constituency, Bawa Zakari Bonwilla, has questioned why fuel prices remain high despite improvements in key economic indicators, arguing that government has the means to reduce the burden on consumers.
Speaking on the Big Mike Breakfast Show on Wednesday, August 5, Bonwilla said falling inflation and the appreciation of the cedi against the US dollar should have resulted in lower fuel prices at the pumps.
He argued that while global oil prices influence pump prices, government-controlled taxes, levies and other policy measures make up a significant portion of the final price paid by consumers.
“The government has every single power to reduce fuel prices,” he said.
Bonwilla urged government to review petroleum taxes and levies, insisting that doing so would provide immediate relief to Ghanaians struggling with the high cost of transport and other goods.
“If the government wants to lessen the burden on citizens, the government can do something to these taxes,” he stated.
He further argued that the one-cedi fuel levy should be reconsidered if its original objective of supporting the energy sector had already been achieved.
“Inflation is single digit, exchange rate has come down, but fuel prices are not coming down,” he said.
Bonwilla also maintained that government pricing policies were preventing oil marketing companies from reducing fuel prices further.
Mike 105.3FM | Navrongo | Elizabeth Apusaama
