Fuel prices is expected to see further reduction following the passage of laws amending some laws in the country.
This is according to the Deputy Minister of Finance designate and the MP for Obuase West Kwaku Kwarteng.
This comes after the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has projected that, Fuel prices is expected to fall by about 3% in the second pricing window of this month [March 2017].
The IES projections comes at the back of drop of Brent crude, gasoline and gasoil prices on the world market.
Parliament yesterday reduced the Special Petroleum Tax, the Customs and Excise tax, income tax and others by passing the Tax(Amendment)Bill,2017, Special Petroleum Tax (Amendment)Bill,2017, Special Import Levy(Amendment)Bill,2017 and Customs and Excise (Petroleum Taxes and Petroleum Related Levies) (Repeal) Bill,2017 to give government the legal backing to implement its programmes enumerated in the budget.
These amendments which is currently awaiting approval is expected to bring relief to businesses and Ghanaians once the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assent to it.
A Deputy Minister of Finance designate and the MP for Obuase Kwaku Kwarteng in an interview with the thebftonline.com said, consumers of especially petroleum products will soon see the effects of the amendments at the pump.
“We should see some significant effects in the price of fuel in the country soon especially at the pump. This is because the special Petroleum Tax and the Customs and Excise tax on petroleum with its levies have all be removed and some reduced. Am unable to tell how much that will be because we are operating a deregulated regime in the petroleum downstream sector, with individuals that sell these petroleum products choosing how much to sell their products. But what these interventions are seeking to achieve is to reduce governments contribution to the price build-up.”
“So, the special petroleum tax that has been reduced from 17.5% to 15% would bring some relief, the exercise duty tax that has been abolished would also bring some relief. In the area of electricity tariff, the reduction of the national electrification levy will bring some relief, the reduction of public lighting levy would bring some relief as well,” he added.
Fuel prices since the beginning of the 2017 has seen a gradual increase between 4% and 11% due to the volatility of the country’s currency the cedi.
This currently has forced transport operators to call for the increase in transport fares for some time now.
Though the GPRTU and other transport unions have warned the commuting public not to accept increase in fares from some owners, the thebftonline.com can report that, commuters have become venerable as some drivers have increased their fares.