GH¢1 LEVY NOT MEANT TO PAY FOR THE ENERGY SECTOR’S LEGACY DEBTS BUT— Energy Minister, John Jinapor
John Abdulai Jinapor, the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, has stated that the newly introduced Energy Sector Levy is not to pay the Energy Sector’s legacy debts.
According to the Energy Minister, it is to pay for liquid fuel.
He revealed that the cost of liquid fuel is not included in the electricity tariff structure, which poses financing challenges to the government.
Speaking in an interview on JOY FM, John Jinapor stated, “Governance is about making decisions. It’s about optimising the situation and doing what we believe is the best decision. Nobody enjoys imposing taxes or levies on the people of Ghana.
“We’ve been working very hard since our time in office, but quickly, this is not actually to pay for legacy debt. What we are doing is that we’ve studied the system, we’ve done the analysis in the energy sector, and the basic truth and fact is that the liquid fuels that we buy currently are not part of the tariff structure. So, when you and I pay for electricity, even if ECG were to collect the money 100% today, none of that money would go into the procurement of liquid fuels.”
“It takes, on average, about 18 months to 2 years to put a gas infrastructure in place. That is, even if you start today. And so this should have happened like yesterday. The finance minister has been helping a bit, though with much more difficulty in helping us to procure liquid fuels. So, what are the options available? Increase electricity tariffs, fall on the finance minister for non-existent money, or share the gains in the reduction of fuel prices,” he noted.
NKONKONSA.com
