The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has cautioned the government against its current approach to fuel pricing, warning that the policy could plunge Ghana’s petroleum downstream sector into another debt crisis.
In a statement issued on Friday, September 11, 2026, the NPP Policy Committee on Energy said the government’s GH¢2-per-litre diesel intervention was being financed by suspending statutory margins that support key institutions in the petroleum downstream sector.
According to the party, the arrangement is costing the sector more than GH¢500 million every month, and nearly GH¢683 million when the implied support to the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) is included.
The NPP estimates that GH¢2.076 billion has already been withheld from the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), distributors, fuel markers and the UPPF across April, May, August and September 2026.
The statement, signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah (MP), Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, warned that the accumulated obligations could eventually translate into public debt.
“A margin suspended today becomes arrears tomorrow and public debt the day after,” the statement said.
The party further argued that rising international crude oil prices could make the intervention increasingly costly, with diesel potentially exceeding GH¢18 per litre even with the GH¢2 relief maintained.
The NPP is therefore calling on the government to restore the statutory margins and, instead, suspend taxes and levies on petroleum products for the duration of the current crisis.
It said the Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy alone brings in GH¢1.93 per litre of diesel, arguing that suspending such government revenue would provide relief without weakening the financial position of downstream institutions.
“Restore the margins. Publish the cost. Stop digging the hole. Suspend the taxes,” the NPP Policy Committee on Energy stated.
Source: Purefmonlinegh.com || Evans Osei-Bonsu || 2026
