A senior member of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., says Ghanaians should not expect a fall in petroleum prices soon.
According to him, the government is fixated on external factors affecting petroleum products and neglecting the real cost of the pendulum-like state of petroleum prices.
“If you are looking at price strength and you refuse to take account of the impact of taxation on pricing and only dwell on the exchange rate, then you don’t know what you are talking about. Prices are not just driven by the exchange rate, they are also driven by taxation, they are driven by many factors so you don’t just take one factor and amplify it,” Kwesi Pratt said on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Wednesday, April 12.
Mr. Pratt’s comment was in reaction to Mr. Eric Adomako Twum, a co-panelist on the socio-political statement that the country is seeing a significant change in petroleum products as a result of policies implemented by the government.
The founding editor of the Insight Newspaper suggested that the government should not ascribe the current stabilization of petroleum products to their credit but rather brace themselves for an escalation of petroleum prices.
“The point I am making is that it hasn’t gone right yet, that is the point I am making. The point I am making is that we should be expecting an escalation in the prices of petroleum products, giving what is happening on the world market,” he stated.
Kwesi Pratt also asserted that hopes should be lowered on cedi appreciation as well as recovering from the shambles of the economy after a possible deal with the IMF.
“The point I am making is we should not be expecting the stability of the cedi anytime soon. The point I am making is that the IMF deal will not bring down the price of Kenkey,” Mr. Pratt averred.
He added that “With the substantial cut of production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), it won’t be long to have prices at the pump adjust upwards.”
By Leonora Enyonam Annoh | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
