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John Jinapor, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, has defended the recently authorized GH¢1.00 petroleum levy, saying that it is a responsible fiscal intervention that is required to stabilize the nation’s energy sector and that it is the perfect moment to implement it.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s SMS on Wednesday, June 4, Mr. Jinapor clarified that the high price of petroleum goods at the time prevented the administration from enacting the fee when it took office.
He said that at the time, the price of petrol was about GH¢16.00 per liter, which was considered too much for customers to bear.
But he pointed out that recent government actions had brought down the price of petrol to about GH¢13.00 per liter, which, he claimed, created a fair window for the charge to be implemented.
“Fuel was around GH¢16.00, and a sensitive government will not slap a tax when fuel is GH¢16.00. You couldn’t have imposed that tax around that time when fuel was still very high, and so you needed to work to bring fuel down to this level and share the gain with Ghanaians. At that time, if we had increased it, you can imagine the impact on Ghanaians, but today, the net effect is that you are still having a reduction of GH¢3.00 on a litre of fuel,” he said.
“It is better to do it today than to (have done) it yesterday, when it would have eroded your income; today, your purchasing power has increased because of the reduction of the value of the dollar,” he stated.
On Tuesday, June 3, the fee was passed by Parliament, which sparked intense public outrage, particularly from members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The minister insisted that the money raised from the tax would be used to fund vital operational and infrastructure requirements in the energy industry, guaranteeing steady supply and long-term viability, in spite of the opposition’s criticism.
Mr. Jinapor urged Ghanaians to see the measure as an investment in the country’s development and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the use of the monies.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
