Dr Cassiel Ato Forson the minister for finance has stated the recent Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) tariff hike announcement is part of Ghana’s IMF requirement.
Speaking in a press conference on Tuesday Ato Forson stated, “We have begun the implementation, which you recently saw—the quarterly adjustment by PURC, which was supposed to have been done by last year. But we have ensured that it has been done in line with the statutory benchmark as agreed in the third review.”
Touching on rumours of Ghana renegotiating the IMF program he stated, “Renegotiating presupposes that you don’t believe in the programme, and so you want to open up the conversation to look at other parameters of the programme.
That isn’t the position of the government. The government is committed to the implementation to achieve the objectives of the IMF programme,” he added.
The PURC in a statement announced that electricity and water tariffs will be increased by an average of 14.75%, while water tariffs will go up by 4.02%.
According to the statement the new tariffs, are set to take effect on May 3, 2025.
“The commission, in their decision today at 6pm reviewed upward the average end-user tariff for electricity by 14.75 per cent and also 4.02 per cent upward for water supply across board for all category of consumers,” he stated.
PURC in a statement issued on Friday, April 11 revealed the commission needs to recover 50% of outstanding revenue amounting to GHS976 million from previous quarters in 2024
The statement added the remaining 50% will be spread over subsequent quarters in 2025.
The Director of Research and Corporate Affairs at the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) Dr Eric Kofi Obutey has revealed a major tariff review is expected in the next quarter.
According to Dr Eric Kofi Obutey, the minor tariff adjustments were forced by several economic and operational indicators.
According to Dr Eric Kofi Obutey, economic and operational indicators such as the exchange rate between the Ghana cedi and the US dollar, inflation projections, fuel costs and the current hydro-thermal generation mix led to the tariff hike.
Dr Eric Kofi Obutey noted that the major tariff review is expected in the next quarter which will factor in capital and operational expenses but he is unable to tell if the next tariff adjustment will go upward or downward.
Dr. Obutey stated, “As it stands now, I cannot determine in the next tariff window there will be an upward or downward review of tariff. I don’t really know how it will go. It will all depend on the factors that will come into play”.
Meanwhile, Dr Gideon Boako, the deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee and MP for Tano North has told the Mahama government not to blame the electricity tariff increments on the IMF deal.
According to him, under IMF conditions, the Akufo-Addo-led administration managed electricity tariffs more efficiently in the interest of the Ghanaian people.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, 12 April, he criticised the current administration, saying, “The NDC government that promised to reduce the cost of living has, in their first four months, increased electricity tariffs by 14.75%.”
“Let this not be blamed on any IMF programme because the data above shows that under the same IMF programmes, the NPP managed the electricity tariffs better”, he added.
