Prices of premix fuel appear to be the hardest hit in the latest hikes in petroleum products. The fuel which is used by mainly fishermen went up by 23 percent and would be selling at 54.2 Ghana cedis per litre. Government in the past had heavily subsidized the product for fishermen because they are said to fall within the vulnerable group in society. But government says it now has to cut down on the level of subsidy because it's becoming a drain on its finances. Deputy Energy and Petroleum Minister, Benjamin Dagadu tells JOY BUSINESS, this follows complaints by fishermen about delays in the imported products. “They came to us to consider the fishing period now and increase the rate of loading. If you increase rate of load it means you’re increasing the subsidy amount and so we agreed with them that we will remove some of the subsides so that the Bulk Distribution Companies can bring in the products for their use” he explained. Government currently spends about 10 million Ghana cedis every month on subsidizing premix fuel. Meanwhile, importers of these products have hailed the increases as good for the industry.