Government has announced a 50% cut in fuel coupon allocation for its appointees as part of measures to mitigate the economic hardship in the country.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori- Atta disclosed this at a press conference on Thursday where he addressed Ghanaians on measures approved by the government to solve the economic crisis.

“These times call for very efficient use of energy resources. In line with this, there will be a 50% cut in fuel coupon allocation for all political appointees and heads of government institutions including State-Owned Enterprises, effective 1^st February, 2022,” Ken Ofori-Atta said.

Mr. Ofori-Atta also announced that as part of efforts to address the fuel price hikes, the government has decided to reduce the margins in petroleum price build-up by a total of 15 pesewas per litre for the next three months, effective April 1.

“The details are as follows; BOST margin reduced by 2 pesewas per litre, Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) margin reduced by 9 pesewas per litre, Fuel Marking Margin (FMM) reduced by 1 pesewa per litre and Primary Distribution Margin (PDM) reduced by 3 pesewas per litre,” the Minister stated.

According to him, this intervention in the petroleum price build-up is expected to reduce prices of petrol by 1.6% and diesel by 1.4% at the pumps.

He noted that government expects fuel prices to be further stabilized at the pumps due to this intervention and measures taken by the government to address the cedi depreciation.

He said the Ministry of Energy and the National Petroleum Authority are in discussion with the Oil Marketing Companies to reduce their margins within the spirit of burden-sharing.

Government has already announced a 30% cut in expenditure at the Presidency and a 30% salary cut for its appointees as part of austerity measures to resolve the prevailing economic crisis.

Council of State members have also resolved to reduce their monthly allowances by 20% until the end of the year due to the country’s economic challenges.

Speaking at the Jubilee House during a meeting with the President on Tuesday, The Chairman of the Council, Nana Otu Serebuor II was hopeful “this small gesture will be emulated by other organs of government.”

“Mr President, in tandem with your decision, we as the Council of State have also decided that we will reduce our monthly allowances by 20% until the end of this year. This move is our way of contributing our widow’s mite to our total efforts towards economic recovery,” he said.

All these measures come in the wake of the recent hikes in fuel prices and the continuous depreciation of the cedi resulting in an increase in general prices of goods, which compelled the government to hold crunch cabinet meetings to find solutions to the rising economic challenges.

Mr. Ofori-Atta assured that government will ensure effective implementation of the expenditure measures announced to bring the economy back on track.