Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, has cautioned that recent interventions to stabilise fuel prices will not immediately translate into relief for consumers.

Speaking on PM Express Business Edition on Joy News Thursday, on the sidelines of the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC, he said the impact of falling fuel prices takes time to filter through the economy.

His comments come as government moves to cushion consumers from rising petroleum prices triggered by global shocks linked to tensions in the Middle East.

But Mr Boakye warned that price adjustments operate at multiple levels, making immediate relief unlikely.

“It will always happen at two levels, on the international market price and also the past three effects, even when prices come down from $100 per barrel to say $50 or $60, you’re not going to have goods and services reduced or the impact reversed almost immediately.”

He explained that businesses often delay passing on cost reductions to consumers. “Because people always want to make a margin. They want to watch this space to see whether they can even keep the same prices.”

According to him, this behaviour slows down the transmission of lower fuel prices into the broader economy.

“The pass-through effect is always slow, so that pass-through effect on the average consumer will drag for a longer period of time.”

He noted, however, that there is still hope for gradual improvement if global conditions stabilise.

“But we’re hoping that the market situation will normalise. Would, you know, stabilise as soon as possible, and that create a signal for us to look at the pass-through effect and see how we can reverse some of those impacts in the medium term.”