The acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Alex Mould has said that the major reason for the increase in fuel prices is due to the rising price of crude oil on the international market. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Mould said other factors contributed to the fuel price increases such as the TOR Debt Recovery Levy but insisted that the estimated international price projected by his outfit had exceeded expectations and there was therefore the need to revise crude prices. He said his outfit originally thought the increase in crude prices on the international market was temporary but from their observations of the winter havoc in Europe and North West and East America, they expected a continued hike in prices. This, he said pre-empted the NPA to hold discussions with the government and other stakeholders on the need to increase fuel prices accordingly which was finally agreed upon on January 3, 2011. “From September we noticed prices started rising, but it was only somewhere in October that we realised that we had exceeded the range and it looked as if there was going to be a permanent increase in the range. “We monitored that up to November, two pricing windows and then we did advise government that we believe that the increase is permanent and we should start discussions with stakeholders,” he stated. “These discussions took place in December, we were hoping that we would finish the discussions before the end of the year and have the price released on the 1st of January, which is our pricing window release date, but that did not occur, discussions continued in the New Year and was finalised just yesterday and we had to increase the price on the 4th of January,” he said. He also added that other reasons for the increase are due to an increase in the margins allocated to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)for their marketing purposes and an increase in the primary distribution margin which moves fuel from depot to depot. Mr Mould explained that the 30% increase in fuel prices was due to the 23% increase in oil prices from $75 to $92, 5% coming from the TOR Debt Recovery Levy specifically targeting diesel and petrol, as well as a 4% increase in the distribution margin. The NPA CEO also answered his critics who had been saying that TOR was not transparent and consistent with its debt figure, stating that the TOR debt was about GH¢1.5 billion less interest rates. He indicated that out of the GH¢1.5 billion, 900 million was owed to Ghana Commercial Bank while the rest was owed to Oil Marketing Companies. Mr Mould further said that the revenue collected from the TOR Debt Recovery Levy was about GH¢120 million while the government had contributed about GH¢445 million, making up only about GH¢565 million payment of the total. He therefore underscored the need for a continued tackling of the debt since according to him, the interest rates would further increase the debt if it was left unattended. He said if interest rates were considered, the figure could reach about GH¢2 billion. A policy advisor to the NPP, Kwaku Kwarteng, however disagreed with Mr Mould’s submission, insisting that the government had borrowed to cover TOR’s debt, which according to him, would inadvertently further increase the debt. Speaking on the same Super Morning Show, Mr Kwarteng said TOR and government had to be more transparent in its dealing with the TOR Debt Recovery Levy. “What government did was to borrow and to use it to pay the debt...it makes no difference at all if the Ministry of Finance goes to borrow money, they use it to pay off some debts that was at TOR, so that Ghanaians are still owing when some TOR Debt Recovery Levy is being collected,” he said. Story by Fidel Amoah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana