Chief Policy Analyst at Ghana Institute of Public Policy Options, Charles Wereko Brobbey, has asked government to moderate the fuel price crisis by leveraging windfall profits obtained from oil revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on the\u00a0Super Morning Show, on Friday, Dr Wereko Brobbey emphasised that government can considerably mitigate the fuel price hikes by applying the windfall profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that by so doing, the burden of increased cost of goods and services imposed on consumers by the high prices of fuel, will reduce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been told by the President that we\u2019re a net exporter of oil now. That means that, each time oil prices go above the baseline figure of $54 per barrel [that is used for our budgeting for revenue projections], the Government of Ghana is making a windfall from the price increase and as this goes on, we the consumers are suffering from the price increase because of the application of price reformular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo I think if the Government of Ghana wants to be a caring government, it should ensure that all the extra windfall profits which have come from $54 to $85 are applied to moderate the price increase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, some Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) have increased the prices of fuel by about 10 pesewas. A litre of petrol is currently being sold at about GHC6.90 at most fuel vending stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that the current oil price stands around $85 per barrel and as a country, we used used $54 for budgeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt means that every extra barrel of oil that goes into our net basket [i.e $31] is a windfall profit that the government makes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not a loss of revenue for anyone. We have already budgeted on $54 dollars that is locked in. So anything that comes in from $55 onwards is surplus. So I believe that money can immediately be used to defray the automatic price increase in ex-refinery price that happens because oil prices have gone up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n