Govt to strengthen economic institutions -Kufuor

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday said government would institute the appropriate framework to ensure that all sectors of the economy perform efficiently and to their optimum.

He said it was in line with such determination that the National Petroleum Tender Board (NPTB) was reconstituted.

President Kufuor was administering the oaths of office and secrecy to eight out of the 10-member Board at the Castle, Osu.

He said there was a very strong negative perception among the public of how petroleum pricing was made, most of them suspecting that there was much politicisation.

President Kufuor said the public felt there was undue political influence in fixing the prices and suspected that the government was over-taxing the citizenry in manipulating the prices, adding, "this does not augur well for the nation".

He said the government was therefore, falling on the Board to endeavour to disabuse the minds of the public of this misconception of government in fixing petroleum prices in the country.

Referring to the huge debts at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), President Kufuor said the debt build up threatened the general debt situation of the country and the financial sector, especially the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB).

He said government's decision to rationalize the situation led to the hard and difficult decision to increase the prices of petroleum products that the people had to bear.

President Kufuor said as part of the rationalization process, government decided that the processes attached to petroleum pricing should be left to an independent body to give further confidence to the Ghanaian public and show government's commitment to transparency and involvement of the people in governance.

He asked the Board to perform its duty with total transparency, due diligence and ensure their decisions was balanced to meet the demands of the consuming public and the economic cost recovery requirements of the petroleum industry in the country.

Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon and Chairman of the Board said petroleum permeates every facet of nation building and its issues had far national and international repercussions.

He said petroleum would continue to dominate all the facets of the country's economy unless an alternative was found.

Professor Addae-Mensah said Ghana went through a difficult situation before it had to come to terms with the petroleum industry, therefore, the Board had to study a complex issue to arrive at a decision fair to all the stakeholders.

He said the Board would ensure fairness, firmness, and transparency and be accountable to the people, adding, " we should be fearless and bold to make pleasant and unpleasant decisions".

The Chairman said members would not have any parochial interest of the society or sectional interest of those in the industry.

He said there was the need for the Board to avoid allowing political consideration to dominate their deliberations but the best interest of the nation should be their watchword.

Other members of the Board who swore the oaths were, Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, Chief Executive Officer of the First African Financial Services, Mr Kwame Gyasi, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Ken Ohene-Agyapong, MP for Assin North, Mrs Angelina Baiden-Amissah, MP for Shama, Mr Mike Afedzi Gizo, MP for Shai-Osudoku.

The rest were, Dr. Humphrey O.K. Ata, Managing Director of Atlantic Computers and Electronics Limited and Mr. Isaac Okyeremah Banor.

The members absent were Mr. Kwame Pianim, an Economic Consultant and Mr Kwesi Adu-Amnkwaa, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The NPTB shall have primary responsibility for assessments of ex-refinery prices of all petroleum products at TOR or imported for distribution on the Ghana market to ensure their alignment with the national petroleum pricing formula.

It shall exercise general oversight and also seek to achieve maximum economics and financial benefit of all procurement of petroleum products for Ghana while providing for consumer satisfaction in availability of reliable product services throughout the country at all time.

Under the terms of reference, the NPTB shall ensure at all times sustenance of equity and balance in the import parity equivalent for all products produced in the oil refinery relative to direct imports of finished petroleum products.

It shall manage the implementation of the National Petroleum Pricing Formula to ensure optimal price-cost, re-alignment and effective cross-subsidisation of all critical products without creating uncompetitive or distortions in the pricing trends for the market.

The NPTB shall provide the mechanism for regular review of allowable ex-refinery prices and such other charges as may be applicable under the pricing formula for the petroleum distribution market.

The Board is to work with the Energy Commission to ensure that the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), which are directly responsible for distribution of the products to the consuming public, comply with the established pricing levels and display requirements at all times.