Too early to tinker with fuel stabilisation levy – NPA CEO

The CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Alhassan Tampuli has said it is too early for people to be asking for the Authority to tinker with the Price Stabilisation Margin levy in the wake of the soaring fuel prices.

A gallon of petrol is currently selling at GHS20.

L.I. 2186 requires that the NPA through the Petroleum Pricing Formula sets up a Price Stabilisation Margin levy which “shall be used to manage the impact of prices of international petroleum products on local ex-pump prices.”

However, Mr Tampuli told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show that: “There are some levies that as soon as prices go up, you have to trigger the Price Stabailisation Margin Levy but we think that it will be premature at this stage to tinker [with the levy]. That will be in haste.”

In his estimation, the current price hikes will not be 'permanent'.

He said the tinkering could only be done if, touch wood, “we suffer some kind of disaster which has a way of affecting our own supply or there is a very sustained rise in fuel prices – mind you this is the only window within which we have this increment … just 14 days … so really and truly I think it will be too premature for us to amend laws because of a temporary situation.”

“Those who are insisting that we should begin to tinker with the Price Stabilisation Margin may have a reason but we say that it is not time yet.”