The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers is projecting a 3% decline in petrol prices and a 1% decline in diesel prices at the pumps, from the second pricing window beginning January 16.
However, this forecast largely depends on the performance of the cedi.
Fuel prices saw a slight increase during the first pricing window of January 2025, with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) such as state-owned GOIL and Total adjusting their prices upward.
For GOIL, petrol, which was priced at GHȼ14.75 per litre in the second pricing window of December 2024, was increased to GHȼ14.99 per litre.
Diesel also saw a price hike, moving from GHȼ15.45 per litre to GHȼ15.60 per litre.
With the second pricing window for January approaching, energy stakeholders are anticipating a reversal of these increases.
Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, Duncan Amoah, believes that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) will closely monitor the performance of the Cedi to determine their pricing strategy for the upcoming window.
“Indications are that prices of petroleum products could go down between 1% and 3% for petrol and diesel. LPG could go up some 3%. However this will be subject to availability of the product and then again the cedi’s performance over the period. Some markets are quoting an upward inclination for the cedi while for others, there is still a depreciation and so the cedi will play a role. But the international market benchmarks are pointing to a reduction,” he told Citi Business News.
BOG FX auction
This development comes at a time when the Bank of Ghana (BoG) successfully held its first forward auction of the year on January 14, allocating $20 million to Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) aimed at managing foreign exchange reserves and stabilising the exchange rate.
A total of 11 bids were submitted during the auction, with rates ranging from 14.70 to 14.95.
The auction, which has a tenor of 30 days, settled on a mid-forward rate of 14.94.
This auction marks the first of six bi-weekly auctions planned for the first quarter of 2025, with a total allocation of $120 million.
The next auction is scheduled for January 29, 2025.
Duncan Amoah commenting on the matter wants a different approach to be adopted in addressing the forex demands of BDCs for the importation of petroleum products.
“What you require currently is between $400-500 if the market is going for imports for petroleum products. You cannot have a situation where the Bank of Ghana throws in just abit – some $50-100 and expect that that will be enough to drive the cedi’s rate of appreciation or depreciation so the must be a more sustainable programme,” he said.
Source : citinewsroom.com
