PSRL: COPEC gives gov’t 7-day ultimatum to reverse restoration of levy
The Chamber Of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has served a 7-day ultimatum notice to the government for the immediate reversal of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy, hinting at a possible picketing at the Finance Ministry if its calls for the reversal are not heeded to.
Speaking in an interview, the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, described the reinstatement of the levy as “insensitive and a slap on the faces of petroleum consumers”.
According to him, the least authorities could have done, was to have found ingenious ways of reducing prices to foster fluidity in the consumption of consumers.
“This has got to be reversed within the next seven days, if not, we shall picket at the Finance Ministry. This is unwarranted. The President saw the hardship that Ghanaians are going through and in November, December last year called for the suspension of the levy”.
“Collecting the levies of this nature is insensitive and will be fiercely contested,” he fumed.
President Akufo-Addo had directed the National Petroleum Authority to extend the removal of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy on petrol, diesel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas to the end of January 2022.
Following the exhaustion of the grace period, the NPA however restored the PSRL.
“We hereby wish to inform all Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and LPG Marketing Companies (LPGMCs) that effective 1st February, 2022, the PSRLs on petrol, diesel and LPG have been fully restored,” the NPA said in a statement.
“All Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketing Companies (LPGMCs) are to take note of the above and apply them in their PBU accordingly,” the NPA added.
The restored PSRL is 16 pesewas per litre on petrol, 14 pesewas per litre on diesel, and 14 pesewas per kilogram on LPG.
Additionally, Mr. Duncan described the move by government to restore the PSRL as insensitive.
“What it means in simple terms is that your fuel prices will go up by that margin. 16 pesewas for petrol, 14 pesewas for diesel, 14 pesewas for LPG. We think this is very insensitive and badly timed. Insensitive to the extent that, you have for the first time in 28 years, where crude prices have crossed 90 dollars. Mostly in January, crude prices decelerate or decline. You see prices drop.
“Around this time, because of [trading] between Russia and Ukraine, and also undersupply by the OPEC block, there’s a lot of pressure on crude. Prices are going up already. We complain a lot. The driver unions complain a lot. Following which the President of the Republic gave a directive that the Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, one of the levies that we had all requested to be reduced, should be zeroed. The thinking would have been that we would wait for prices to ease a bit,” he stated.
