The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has warned the public to expect higher fuel prices at the pumps in the coming weeks due to the depreciation of the cedi.
This warning comes after some oil marketing companies began raising prices at the pumps, despite earlier projections that prices would decrease starting in mid-May.
The companies have attributed their decision to increase prices to the uncertainties in the exchange rate market.
As of Tuesday, May 21, 2024, one dollar was selling for GH¢15.20 at Forex Bureaus.
The Executive Secretary of the chamber, Duncan Amoah, stated that oil marketing companies are facing challenges due to the fluctuations in the exchange rate.
Mr. Amoah revealed that despite efforts by some oil marketing companies to find innovative solutions to mitigate the effects of the Cedi’s depreciation on their operations, the ongoing instability is hindering their ability to plan effectively.
“Once you have a currency that you can’t predict its performance in the next two to three months, then you are forcing the importers to determine what values to set their pricing”, he said.
He contended that business owners inevitably respond to market expectations and formulate their forecasts based on the performance of the currency.
