Just than twenty-four hours after the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced the government's mid-year budget review, there have already been increases in the price of fuel at the pump.
A trip to the gas stations made by 3news.com on Tuesday, August 1 revealed that the price of a litre of gasoline or diesel has increased to GH12.95 from the previous price of GH12.45.
In an exclusive interview that aired on TV3's New Day on August 1, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam Anta insisted that the situation would have been much worse if it weren't for the realistic policies implemented by the administration.
"Fuel prices would have gone higher than that," he emphasised multiple times.
"You know the Gold for Oil Programme that we initiated, it has helped a lot," the former Deputy Energy Minister explained to host Berla Mundi. "It has helped a lot."
If you wanted to follow the movement of fuel prices on the worldwide market, it would be significantly higher than what they are in Ghana right now. This is because the international market is more volatile.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Karaga stressed that the administration gives careful thought to the impact that changes like these will have on average people and, as a result, consciously implements mitigating elements to make life easier for them.
"We bear with the circumstances," he had remarked earlier on. "We bear with the circumstances." "Even though these are challenging times, we are not going to just sit around and do nothing."
‘Stockout’
The Minister of State stated that some countries have declared a "stockout" as a result of the high prices, but that Ghana is continuing to sell crude goods to consumers without any delays.
"As I speak to you, while global prices of petroleum priducts are increasing, some other countries are declaring stockout," he stated, naming Senegal, The Gambia, and neighbouring Ivory Coast as examples. "This is happening while some other countries are declaring a stockout."
"So, if you are faced with having shortage of products and having uninterrupted supply of the products, even if the price is a little higher, what will you go for?" he asked. "So, if you are faced with having shortage of products and having uninterrupted supply of the products, what will you go for?"
According to him, the fact that Ghana does not have the lengthy lines that are common in countries like Nigeria demonstrates that "our efficiency in the management of the petroleum sector is simply showing."
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