The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association has indicated that the government’s ‘Gold for Oil’ policy did not contribute to the price reduction of LPG.

According to its Vice President, Gabriel Kumi, the policy did not cover LPG and therefore it did not affect the price of the petroleum product.

“We know that LPG price has gone down, beginning today [March 16, 2023], but as we did indicate, it’s not the gold for oil policy which is the factor that has brought the price down. You know that LPG has not been added to the products [petroleum] that are being traded for the gold for oil deal”.

“LPG has gone down mainly because of three reasons. The cedi has seen some stability over the past two weeks, it has appreciated by 2% and crude oil has gone down by 3% and that has resulted in prices of finished products going down by 7%. These are the factors that have contributed to the prices of LPG going down by about 7% to 8%. If we are lucky, competition can drive this further to 10%”, he further explained.

Additionally, Mr. Kumi said government must be a little bit detailed in its communication if indeed the ‘gold for oil’ policy has contributed to the reduction of LPG, “clearly stating by what percentage”.

Continuing, he pointed out that the price of LPG could have fallen drastically if taxes on the petroleum product is scrapped.

“Once you put the tax on it, it goes a long way to affect prices at the pumps. So even though the prices have gone down by 7%, if you add the 13 percent tax we’re going to see an increase of 20% and that is very huge to see an increase in consumption”.