The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers is pressing government to extend the fuel tax relief measures by another month to continue cushioning consumers against rising fuel prices.
According to the Chamber, the conditions that necessitated the intervention including tensions in the Middle East and persistent volatility in global crude oil prices still remain and continue to pose risks to fuel price stability.
Government recently absorbed GH¢2 on diesel and 36 pesewas on petrol for an initial one month as part of temporary relief measures aimed at easing the burden on consumers and businesses.
Executive Secretary of Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, Duncan Amoah, in a Citi Business News interview indicated that extending the reliefs for an additional month would help sustain recent gains in fuel price moderation and prevent a sharp increase in transportation and operational costs across the economy.
“The underlying factors for which the intervention became necessary are still rife. International benchmarks are high, premiums are still high, and local pump prices are high. Given the circumstances, it would only be reasonable for us to ask the government to extend the intervention by another month.
“The fear of fuel prices going up is that when it does, it drags a lot of things with it. Transportation, food costs, and non-food inflationary pressures would also go up.
“For us, it might cost the government something, but I think the government will still be better off extending the intervention than at this point saying we are removing the GH¢2 we gave on diesel and then the 36 pesewas on petrol.
“We think that given the circumstances, the government should not only consider an extension but go ahead to extend for the ordinary Ghanaian consumer, because the factors that necessitated this intervention are still very rife as of today,” he said.
The comments come ahead of the second pricing window of May.
Already, Fitch Ratings has projected that government is likely to extend the temporary fuel price relief measures introduced in April 2026 to shield consumers and businesses from rising petroleum costs driven by tensions in the Middle East.
Fitch believes the relief measures could remain in place beyond the original timeline, citing the relatively limited fiscal impact on the state.
