Fuel prices to go down further – Hadzide

Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, has stated that Ghanaians should expect a reduction in fuel prices soon.

According to him, the drop in inflation should influence the reduction in fuel prices and other consumer goods, to ease the burden on Ghanaians.

Petrol is expected to see a 5.8% reduction, while diesel and LPG will see a 4.8 and 2.4% reduction respectively.

Mr. Hadzide who made these statements while addressing journalists in Accra said the government’s decision to scrap some taxes in 2017 also contributed to the decline in the prices of the petroleum products.

“Fuel prices which have also been experiencing an upping over a 2 month period have also been on a gradual decline in recent weeks. Government further expects a drop in fuel prices by an average of 5.8% reduction for petrol. 4.8% for diesel 2.46% reduction for LPG. This is occasioned by the marginal strength of the cedi and the prices around the world. These reductions come on the back of several other interventions including the reduction in some 14 tax handles, reduction in the electricity tariffs,  reduction in taxes of petroleum products from 40% to 26%,” he said.

The Deputy Minister announced that the year-on-year inflation reduced from 9.5 percent in October 2018 to 9.3 percent in November, noting that, the reduction was the lowest in six years.

In December 2016, the inflation rate was hovering around 15.4 percent and reduced to 11.8 percent in December 2017, according to statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service.

—citinewsroom