Fuel prices must go down – NPA to OMCs

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has instructed Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to with immediate effect implement the revised Special Petroleum Tax which has been reduced by two per cent.

The NPA wants the reduced taxes to reflect in the price at the pumps effective 17 February 2018 [Friday].

The order was contained in a press release signed by the NPA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alhassan Tampuli.

The OMCs, said Mr. Tampuli, must use a new template issued by the Authority to compute prices at the pumps following the two percent reduction of the Special Petroleum Tax.

Petrol price at the pumps are expected to reduce from GH¢4.67 per litre to GH¢4.50 per litre whereas diesel would be sold at GH¢4.48 per litre instead of the GH¢4.67 per litre.

This follows passage of the Special Petroleum Tax Amendment Bill to reduce the tax from 15 percent to 13 percent Wednesday February 14, 2018.

The reduction was partly due to pressure from sections of the public for a complete scrap of the tax component on petroleum products.

Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Mark Assibey Yeboah, said the drop in the price of crude on the world market is expected to cause a marginal decrease in the cost of petrol and diesel at the pumps.

“If we had not brought this amendment and things stay the same, we would have seen a marginal decline from 4.67 to about 4.58.

“With this new specificity being introduced into the tax, if this should kick in immediately we should see a decline to about 4.5 on the 4.6. We are looking at saving about 70 pesewas per gallon,” he told Starr News.