Non-increase in petroleum prices affects gov't

The government has between January and June this year, paid an amount of ?185.7 billion as subsidies to utility companies to mitigate the effects of the delays in the implementation of upward adjustment in utility prices.

This works out to an average of ?31 billion to the utilities monthly.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo, who disclosed this to Parliament said, the inability of Government to adjust the prices of petroleum products has led to an accumulation of financial losses to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to the tune of about ?50 billion a month.

These were some of the highlights of a review of the government’s 2002 economic performance based on its budget statement/economic policy by the Finance Minister.