The Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (COBD) says there will be some reprieve for consumers of petroleum products soon because of some measures the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced.
The Central Bank has announced it will provide more forex for importers of petroleum products at competitive rates, which is expected to check the recent persistent hike in fuel prices.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, the CEO of the Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi, was hopeful new interventions would be made to reduce the current prices at the various pumps.
“We’ve been engaging the BoG. I think they release about $160 million to the entire energy sector; so not just the BDCs. I think they did some but not in a very structured way as we would have wanted done. It was very critical for the particular moment to reduce some tension.
“We have been engaging and hopefully on Wednesday [March 23]. We should be having further engagements to develop a structure geared around the forex market to ensure that some of these interventions can cascade into lower pump prices as we currently see on the markets.
“We’re still jaw-jawing and we hope that we would come to some consensus on how we get things done. Our market now needs about $300 million every month to cover our monthly import bill,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has reportedly decided to scrap some petroleum taxes after a meeting with key stakeholders.
This was revealed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana, David Agboado.
“The outcome is very simple. Government has agreed to scrap the taxes, and has assured that by close of Tuesday, we will hear the good news.”
“Well, if by the time given, government doesn’t do as it has said, we will go ahead with our demonstration,” he told Accra-based Citi FM.
Fuel prices have increased within the last week across major pumps in the country.
Many Oil Marketing Companies have been selling at an average of ¢9.70, ¢9.99 and ¢11.
The Bulk Oil Distributors has blamed the situation on the volatility on the market as well as the rising cost of crude on the international market.
According to the Chief Executive, Senyo Hosi, the cedi which is depreciating in relation to other major trading currencies is also a cause of the rise in the price of the commodities.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
