Fuel price relief will not be immediate despite government’s latest intervention to ease the burden on consumers, Chief Executive Officer of COMAC, Dr Riverson Oppong, has cautioned.
Speaking in an interview, he warned that any expected drop in pump prices will take time to materialise, even as global prices begin to soften.
Government earlier announced plans to remove some taxes and margins on fuel following a Cabinet meeting on April 9.
The move, according to Minister of State for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, is aimed at cushioning consumers after recent price hikes linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East involving the United States, Iran and Israel.
Reacting to the development, Dr Oppong described the decision as both expected and surprising.
“I don’t know what to call it, whether expected or surprised…I say expected, because I believe that we needed this kind of intervention,” he said.
“Surprised, because I don’t know why the government would take a decision like this when the war, indeed, today, has been halted.”
He noted that industry players had been pushing for such measures earlier, adding that global benchmark prices were already declining.
“This is the time that the government decided to review prices when we had been asking for it a month ago,” he stated.
Despite welcoming the intervention, he urged consumers to manage expectations, stressing that price reductions do not happen instantly.
“Nonetheless, as I said, the expectation of this downward movement of fuel globally will take some time, no doubt, windows upon windows or to fill it the same way when it was going up, it took some time.”
Dr Oppong said clarity on which specific taxes and margins will be reviewed remains critical.
“Hopefully, if the energy minister and international minister meet, they will understand which taxes and which emerge that they are going to take a second look at, and that is more interesting to know and do the interpretation of the decision to be made.”
He added that the decision signals improved engagement between industry and government. “It’s a good direction. I think we are all excited about it as an industry, because it lets us believe that, yes, we are having a dialogue with the government that listens and understands the impact of decisions like this on the ordinary Ghanaian.”
On possible areas of adjustment, Dr Oppong pointed to the controversial “dumsor levy” as a likely candidate for suspension. “I foresee it affecting the dumsor levy and that levy probably being suspended for four weeks to bring some leverage,” he said.
However, he called for transparency on the use of proceeds from the levy.
“We need some level of accountability. I will personally be glad to hear from the Minister of Finance how much that almost GH¢2 billion has accrued so far… So let’s see what has been gathered so far and what it has been used for.”
He also highlighted industry pressures, noting that margins for oil marketing companies have already been shrinking due to recent price competition.
“For the margins, I cannot pinpoint what exactly the government would take down,” he explained, adding that any relief on the levy side would likely involve “a special petroleum tax, or the extra one city that you call the dumsor levy suspended.”
