The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has strongly cautioned the government not to proceed with any plans to impose new taxes on petroleum products at the mid-year budget review.
The mid-year budget review is expected to be presented to Parliament on July 25, 2023, by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to COPEC, its sources have confirmed that the government plans to impose more taxes on fuel, which are currently too high for people to sustain.
Speaking on Accra-based television, Citi TV, the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, expressed regret that such insensitive conduct will aggravate Ghanaians’ situation.
“What I am even picking up from the budget to be read soon is that if Ghanaians are not lucky, there will be newer taxes… But we will issue a warning here. If government dares us, we will dare them this time. I mean, it’s already crazy. We are trying. When it comes to austerity, what governments across the world will try to do is to provide support and relief.”
“But when you are in austerity, and you are taxing even more, you are simply shuttering people’s livelihoods. This is going to be crazy for people. But beyond this, if you are getting new attempts to slap taxes on petrol, which is already high, then the insensitivity, the misalignment. He is probably not diagnosing the problem properly to be able to proffer solutions properly,” he added.
