The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has voiced its disappointment with the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for raising the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) margin. According to COPEC, this decision has led to increased fuel prices at the pumps, further burdening the public.
In a circular, the NPA instructed industry players to increase the UPPF margin by GH₵0.05 per litre of fuel in the Price Build Up for petroleum products starting June 1, 2024. As a result, petrol and diesel prices rose to GH₵14.84 per litre at some service stations on June 4, 2024.
Reacting to this development, COPEC’s Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, expressed concern over the impact on consumers, who are already struggling with high fuel prices due to the depreciation of the cedi.
He stated, “These things simply continue to add to the pressure that fuel prices continue to face in the country. It is quite unfortunate that we continue to add on at a time when we should be thinking of reducing prices for our people. Prices simply would end up going up because we have done an increase in some of the margins just a few days ago, which is not good enough.”
Mr. Amoah emphasized that fuel prices should have decreased, given the recent significant decline in crude oil prices on the world market.
He argued that the decision to increase the UPPF margin is counterproductive, as it negates the potential savings that consumers could have enjoyed.
“Indeed, fuel prices should have declined in the last window and this window. The cedi’s performance has been largely blamed for the prices still being where they are and very high. UPPF used to be around 45 pesewas a litre but unfortunately, we’ve had to increase it and increase it. Currently, we’ve also adjusted it to now 90 pesewas a litre,” he lamented.
Criticizing the government, Mr. Amoah stressed that policymakers should not pass on costs to consumers, thereby increasing the public’s burden with higher fuel prices.
