Fuel prices to decline by 5.8 percent averagely this week

Prices of petroleum products are expected to decline this week following the stability of the cedi against the major international trading currencies and reduction of world prices of fuel.

Mr Pius Enam Hadzide, a Deputy Minister of Information, addressing journalists in a news briefing, in Accra on Sunday, said the prices of petrol would drop averagely by 5.8 percent, diesel by 4.8 percent and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 2.46 percent.

He said the reduction would further bring reliefs to Ghanaians to complement the various interventions implemented by government including scrapping of some 14 taxes in the 2017 budget, reduction of electricity tariffs and petroleum taxes from 40 to 26 percent as well as the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy.

The Deputy Minister announced that the year-on-year inflation reduced from 9.5 percent in October 2018 to 9.3 percent in November, noting that, the reduction was the lowest in six years.

In December 2016, the inflation rate was hovering around 15.4 percent and reduced to 11.8 percent in December 2017, according to statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service.

He said the reduction was occasioned by prudent fiscal policies by government leading to price stability in the country and enabling people to retain monies in their pockets and minimising the economic hardships.

Measures such as fiscal consolidation, monitoring policy tightening, exchange rate stability and other prudent fiscal policies aided the reduction, he added.