Ghanaians have taken to social media platforms Facebook and Twitter to express their outrage over the recent increase in fuel prices at the pump, which occurred as a result of the government’s revenue drive for economic recovery.
According to iDO GH News, fuel prices have risen by nearly 13 percent at the pump as a result of the government imposing new taxes and levies totaling more than 45 pesewas on fuel prices.
A trending image verified from a Shell filling station shows price changes at the pump ranging from Ghc5.42 to Ghc6.13.
Some energy think tanks, such as The Institute for Energy Security (IES) and COPEC, had asked the government to withdraw the new taxes on petroleum products in order to provide relief to Ghanaians in the midst of the country’s covid-19 hardship.
The IES said in a statement that the revised margins include the BOST Margin, the Primary Distribution Margin (PDM), the Fuel Marking Margin (FMM), and the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) Margin.
The UPPF Margin is GHp3 per litre on all liquid products except Premix fuel, MGO Foreign, Gasoil Mines, and Gasoil Rig, plus GHp3 per kilogram on LPG.
The PDM has also been increased to GHp11 per litre of Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene. The Fuel Marking Scheme has seen an increment of up to 167% from GHp3.00 per litre to GHp8.00 per litre for all liquid products.
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The BOST Margin has also increased by 100 percent, from GHp6 to GHp12 per litre. This new increase for BOST follows an initial 100 percent increase from GHp3 to GHp6 per litre just eleven (11) months ago.
The IES described the new amendments to the various Margins as a nuisance and insensitive to Ghanaian petroleum consumers, especially given that the majority of Ghanaians are still feeling the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
