John Peter Amewu explained that the reliefs form part of the government’s measures to mitigate the impact of the increasing price of oil on the international market on Ghanaians.
“The revenue loss to government on the removal of the Excise Duty and the reductions of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL) alone between December 2017 and June 2018 amounts to over ¢232 million.”
Speaking when he took his turn at the Meet-The-Press series in Accra, Amewu said that the government removed excise duty on petroleum products and reduced the special petroleum tax rate from 17.5% to 15% in March 2017.
The government also reduced the special petroleum tax rate from 15% to 13% on 16th February 2018, converted the special petroleum tax from Ad valorem to specific tax on the same date and reduced the price stabilization and recovery levies (PSRL) on 1st December 2017.
He added that the government, through the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has been making efforts to ensure that realistic prices are set by Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
Amewu explained that the NPA has played a supervisory role since the implementation of price deregulation in 2015.
“The NPA reviews the indicative prices submitted by each BDC and OMC for every pricing window to ensure that realistic prices are set by them and to ensure consumers are not taken advantage of in a deregulated environment,” he explained.
