The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has raised concerns over government’s GH¢2 reduction in diesel saying the intervention is not sustainable as it does ease the burden on consumers but rather cushions only just a part of the fuel price increment.
Addressing the press at the party’s headquarters, the party led by the Asene Akroso-Manso Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. George Kwame Aboagye said the reduction of the GH¢2 from diesel does not really reduce the price significantly as it still maintains its high price compared to January 2025 when the government assumed power.
“Even if the full GH¢2 reduction is passed through to the pump, diesel will still stand at 11.4% above its January 2025 level,” he said.
According to the lawmaker, the intervention “cushions part of the increase that has already happened. It does not reverse it, and it does not return households and businesses to where they stood 18 months ago.”
He also talked about the GH¢1 levy government placed on fuel which is meant to generate revenue to feed the energy sector, specifically electricity.
The MP said government has refused to do away with the levy but consumers have been paying from last year and have increasingly taking on the burdens that came with every fuel price increment. But government’s only measure to help out consumers at this point when prices have inflated again is to just reduce the price of diesel only.
“The government used a certificate of urgency to pass the Energy Sector Amendment Bill, 2025, imposing GH¢1 on every petroleum product. The Minister of Finance assured Ghanaians that the strong cedi will neutralise the impact,” he said.
He added “A consumer who has paid GH¢1 extra on every litre of petrol and diesel for more than a year recieves at best GH¢2 back on diesel for a single month and nothing at all on petrol.”
He said the reduction is not generosity but a partial temporary return to money which was taken from consumers at midnight.
The party said it supports any intervention to ease the burden on consumers but “compassion without fiscal discipline is not a sustainable a policy.”