The Trades Union Congress (Ghana) has demanded that government suspends all taxes and levies on fuel products with immediate effect.

According to the Union, fuel prices have cumulatively increased by about 54 per cent since January 2022, which has already had significant adverse impacts on living standards.

“Erosion of values of incomes has been severe, particularly for workers on fixed salaries. In addition, many more Ghanaians have been pushed into poverty because of the rippling effects of higher fuel prices on general level of prices of other essential items.”

In a press statement signed by Secretary-General Dr Yaw Baah, the TUC, therefore, said, “the situation must be addressed without further delay; otherwise many more Ghanaians will be pushed into destitution.”

The Union admitted the recent woes of citizens have been caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has added to the pressure on international crude oil prices and the massive depreciation of the cedi.

However, the TUC believes the scrapping off of taxes and levies on fuel, diesel, LPG and kerosene should manage to bring down prices of these fuel products by an average of about 15 per cent.

“The suspension should remain in force until the international price of crude oil stabilises, and the decline of the cedi has been halted. The reduction in fuel prices will hopefully translate into the stabilisation of or even reduction in prices of other essential items, including food.

More importantly, suspending taxes and levies on these fuel products in these challenging times will demonstrate to Ghanaians that our government is sensitive to the plight of the people of Ghana,” the Union added.

According to the TUC, government should also consider reviewing the method for fuel pricing as the current process is not transparent and is also unfair to consumers.

"As a permanent measure to address the negative effects of fluctuating petroleum prices on the international market, we believe that this is the time to adopt a policy to refine petroleum domestically. This will insulate fuel prices from the vagaries of the exchange rate."

Meanwhile, government has been entreated to revive the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to refine crude oil for the domestic market.

This according to the TUC is because, refining domestically-produced crude oil in Ghana can strengthen the cedi.

The TUC's call supports earlier suggestions by Member of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, Edward Bawa, who said Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) could purchase crude oil to feed the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) as part of measures to reduce fuel prices.

The Trades Union Congress concluded by calling on government to ban the importation of commodities like rice and poultry which can fairly easily be produced domestically.