The Information Minister, says government has tasked the Energy Ministry and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to find reliable and cheaper sources of fuel.
President Akufo-Addo in his address to the nation on Sunday announced that government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market.
According to him, this arrangement, when successful, coupled with a stable currency will halt the escalation of fuel prices and bring relief to Ghanaians.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Monday, said works are already in motion to that effect, adding that the end result will be a relief to Ghanaians as see a halt in transport fares and goods.
He said that the cost of living in the country is driven by fuel prices, which translate into high food and transportation costs.
Therefore tackling the cost of living can be done by taking care of the “frequent escalation of fuel prices” hence the government’s arrangement.
“The deregulated market we have here where BDCs import from big companies on high fees from the refinery wherever and bring them in is contributing to the quickened escalation of fuel prices.
“To arrest it, the Energy Ministry working through NPA and other agencies etc is been tasked to finding reliable, cheaper sources of fuel for the Republic so that the OMCs locally can tap into and hopefully halt that escalation in fuel prices,” he added.
In a related development, the President has appealed to traders to be measured in the margins they seek on their goods.
According to Akufo-Addo, we are in crisis together, therefore the traders should “not try to make the utmost profits out of the current difficulties.”
Rather than looking for excess profit, he urged traders to “all keep an eye out for the greater good.”
”I hear from the market queens also that another factor fueling the high prices is the high margins that some traders are slapping on goods, for fear of future higher costs. I say to our traders, we are all in this together. Please let us be measured in the margins we seek,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has also hinted at possibly securing a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of the year.
According to him, the country is likely to arrive at an agreement by December to get the crucial bailout it seeks.
He believes this will help “repair the short term of public finances and restore our balance of payment while we continue to work on the medium to long term structural changes that are at the heart of our goal of constructing a resilient robust Ghanaian economy and building a Ghana Beyond Aid.”
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