The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has sounded the alarm that the government’s current approach to fuel pricing could drag Ghana’s energy sector into another debt crisis.
In a statement, the NPP Policy Committee on Energy said the GH¢2-per-litre diesel intervention is being funded by suspending statutory margins that support the petroleum downstream sector, even as government continues to collect taxes and levies on petroleum products.
The Committee estimated that the arrangement is draining more than GH¢500 million every month from the downstream sector, rising to nearly GH¢683 million when the implied support to the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) is factored in.
“By our estimate, GH¢2.076 billion has already been withheld from BOST, the distributors, the fuel markers and the UPPF across April, May, August and September 2026. None of it has been replaced,” the statement said.
The NPP cautioned that prolonged withholding of these statutory margins could result in deferred maintenance, unpaid supplier bills and institutional borrowing, steadily building a new debt burden within the petroleum industry.
“In plain words, Government is accumulating debt to BOST and other key players under the guise of ‘intervention’,” the Committee said.
It argued that the situation closely resembles the conditions that previously pushed Ghana into an energy sector debt crisis.
“That is precisely how the historical energy sector debt crisis began: obligations left standing while the revenue meant to meet them was diverted,” the statement said.
The party further noted that pressure on pump prices is intensifying, pointing to rising crude oil and international petroleum product prices alongside a weakening cedi.
“Crude oil has moved from US$92.11 to US$98.18 per barrel, while international petrol prices have jumped 14.57 per cent, diesel 4.85 per cent and LPG 13.47 per cent for the September 16–30 pricing window.”
According to the Committee, these developments may force government to deepen the intervention further, even as diesel could still climb above GH¢18 per litre at the pump.
The NPP recommended that government suspend taxes and levies on fuel instead of withholding the statutory margins that keep the downstream sector running.
It also referenced the 2026 Budget’s crude oil benchmark of US$76.22 per barrel, noting that higher actual prices could have generated an extra GH¢8 billion to GH¢9 billion in revenue.
The Committee maintained that the current intervention is becoming costlier while offering diminishing relief to consumers.
“Government therefore faces a trap of its own making. Keep the GH¢2, and incur a downstream ‘debt’ of more than GH¢500 million every month. Remove it, and consumers absorb the international increase and the restored GH¢2 at the same time,” the statement said.
It called on government to restore the suspended statutory margins, publicly disclose the full cost of the fuel intervention, and suspend taxes and levies on petroleum products for the duration of the crisis.
“Restore the margins. Publish the cost. Stop digging the hole. Suspend the taxes,” the statement concluded.
Read the full statement below:
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