Former Finance Minister and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has argued that the previous NPP administration introduced broader and more lasting measures to cushion Ghanaians from high fuel prices than the current GH¢2 reduction in the price of diesel.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, September 27, Dr Amin Adam compared the current intervention with measures implemented by the NPP government during periods of elevated fuel prices.
He cited the abolition of the excise tax on fuel and reductions in the Special Petroleum Tax, which he said was reduced from 17.5% to 15% and later to 13%.
The former Finance Minister also pointed to the conversion of the Special Petroleum Tax from an ad valorem tax to a specific tax, as well as the zero-rating of the Petroleum Stabilisation and Recovery Levy for extended periods.
According to Dr Amin Adam, these measures were more than temporary relief packages because they were supported by legislation, with their fiscal implications absorbed through the national budget.
He also highlighted the NPP government’s Gold for Oil programme, which he said contributed to a significant reduction in fuel prices after pump prices had risen above GH¢20 per litre.
Dr Amin Adam, who previously served as chairman of the Gold for Oil initiative, described the programme as “revolutionary”.
He argued that the initiative helped secure petroleum products while easing some of the foreign exchange pressures associated with fuel imports.
Comparing those measures with the current intervention, Dr Amin Adam said the GH¢2 reduction in diesel prices was temporary and relied on cuts to the margins of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) and the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF).
“The NDC’s current GH¢2 relief on diesel is temporary and worse of all, it is quasi-fiscal as it only cut margins for BOST and UPPF weakening the petroleum sector resilience,” he said.
Dr Amin Adam called for broader measures if the government wants to provide consumers with sustained relief from high fuel prices.
His comments come amid ongoing discussions over the cost of petroleum products and the measures being adopted by successive governments to cushion consumers from price increases.
