The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association has described the various commercials directed at promoting the usage of LPG in the country as “a waste of the taxpayers’ money”.
The government of Ghana under its National LPG promotion policy seeks to ensure that at least 50% of households will have access to safe, clean and environmentally friendly LPG by 2030.
Since the launch of this programme, the government has undertaken several activities and initiatives including radio and television advertisements towards achieving this goal.
But the LPG Marketers Association has described the initiative as unrealistic since the cost of LPG is very high, preventing many consumers from purchasing the fuel product.
Speaking to Joy Business, Vice President of the Association, Gabriel Kumi indicated that promoting a product that people cannot afford due to excessive taxes on the fuel product will be unproductive.
“We hear NPA and the World Bank playing a lot of adverts on the radio and TV. We should rather channel that money towards subsidising the product to the rural folks”.
“We are wasting the taxpayer’s money by those adverts if we don’t tackle the tax on the commodity”, he continued.
Dollar auction should cover LPG
There have been numerous calls on the government to redirect the dollar auction policy toward the importation and pricing of LPG in the country.
These actions, according to the LPG Marketers Association of Ghana, when implemented, will achieve the desired price reduction impacts.
Mr. Kumi bemoans government’s posture of not reducing taxes on LPG could discourage its consumption, derailing the gains made to stop the use of charcoal.
“Any pesewa that you put on the price of LPG goes a long way to decrease its consumption. How can you advertise a product I cannot afford to pay? He questioned.
LPG prices witnessed a jump by 8% in the second pricing window of April 2023.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kumi warns of a further hike in the price of the petroleum product if government continues to ignore calls for a review of the tax build up.
Crude oil price has started rising again, we are hitting $90 as of today [April 18, 2023]. The experts are telling us that going forward the prices are expected to escalate further. So, this is the time for us to review taxes on LPG”.
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