A former Finance Minister and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has called on the government to reduce taxes on petroleum products, arguing that a windfall in oil revenues provides more than enough cushion to absorb the fiscal impact of such a move.
The Karaga Member of Parliament made the remarks in a Facebook post on Friday, April 3, in direct response to rising fuel prices and mounting public pressure on the government to intervene. Dr Amin Adam was unequivocal: cutting petroleum levies would not derail the 2026 Budget, and the numbers, he argued, back that up.
At the heart of his case is a significant gap between what the government projected and what it is actually earning from crude oil. The 2026 Budget was built on a benchmark crude oil price of $76.22 per barrel and an output projection of 37.95 million barrels. But actual prices have remained well above $100 per barrel for much of March, a divergence that has generated a substantial revenue upside for the country.
“This means government is gaining additional windfall revenue of more than GH¢8 billion this year,” Dr Amin Adam stated, insisting that these extra inflows should be deployed to cushion Ghanaians against the rising cost of fuel rather than absorbed quietly into the national accounts.
The former Finance Minister maintained that reducing petroleum levies is both necessary and fiscally sustainable under current market conditions. He urged the government to act promptly, emphasising that the additional oil revenue can fully compensate for any shortfall in fuel tax collections — effectively making the relief cost-neutral to the budget.
With fuel prices having risen sharply following new National Petroleum Authority pricing guidelines, and with transport operators already threatening fare hikes, the pressure on the government to respond is intensifying. Dr Amin Adam’s intervention adds a pointed political dimension to the debate, framing tax relief not as a fiscal risk, but as a missed opportunity to translate Ghana’s oil fortunes into direct relief for ordinary citizens.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com