The Trades Union Congress (TUC), the country’s worker unions’ mouthpiece, has asked the government to suspend all taxes and levies on petroleum products.
It stated that this will help alleviate the current economic hardships that Ghanaians are experiencing as a result of recent increases in fuel prices, food commodities, and transportation fares, as well as the cedi’s depreciation and associated inflationary pressures.
Fuel prices have increased by 54% since the beginning of 2022, while transportation fares have increased by 15%.
According to Bank of Ghana data, the cedi has depreciated by about 14.6% against the US dollar so far in 2022.
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To that end, the Union asked the government to keep the suspension in place until international crude oil prices stabilized and the depreciation of the local currency (the Cedi) improved.
The proposal by the union came ahead of the government’s announcement of key measures.
and relief in easing the current economic hardship in the country on Thursday by the Finance
Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Secretary-General of TUC, Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, in their proposal to the Finance Ministry
and Energy Ministry said: “We propose that Government must immediately suspend all taxes
and levies on petrol, diesel, and LPG.”
He added that: “More importantly, suspending taxes and levies on these fuel products in these
challenging times will demonstrate to Ghanaians that our government is sensitive to the plight
of the people of Ghana.”
Dr Baah said the time had come for the government to adopt a policy to ensure domestic
refinery of petroleum, noting that such a measure would “insulate fuel prices from the vagaries
of the exchange rate.”
He said: “Government should also be serious about reviving the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to
refine crude oil for the domestic market. Refining domestically-produced crude oil in Ghana
can even strengthen the cedi, among other advantages.”
The TUC Secretary-General said the rising fuel prices had significantly impacted living
standards, eroded values of incomes of people, especially for workers on their fixed salaries,
and pushed many more Ghanaians into poverty.
He, therefore, urged the government to institute measures to, “address the situation without
further delay, otherwise, many more Ghanaians will be pushed into destitution.”
President Akufo-Addo had admitted the current economic hardship in the country, and indicated that the government would adopt the necessary measures to turn the economy around.
When members of the Council of State conferred with him on Tuesday, he said the country
was going through a difficult time and that called for difficult decisions, noting that “it is no
secret that our economy is going through difficult times.”
He added, “It is also no secret that we are not alone in this exercise. Many of the
phenomena that we are facing are apparent in many other parts of the world as well. But that
doesn’t mean that the government is impotent in trying to find solutions.”
