The attitude of Ghanaians towards the recent hike in prices of petroleum products sends a strong signal that they are either unconcerned or have‘the dead goat syndrome’.
Transport services still continue to function without any hitches as drivers and passengers are seen transacting business cordially despite the fuel price hike. The country has witnessed frequent increment in the prices of petroleum products in recent times. On Wednesday September 18th2018, the NPA again announced another increment in the fuel prices. On that very day, a team of researchers from Isearch took to the streets of the La-Nkwantanang-Madina Metropolitan District to interact with the general public on the recent increment in fuel prices. In an interview with Mr. Frank Antwi (a trader at the Madina market), he stated that the increment in fuel prices had not yet affected transport fares and thus he was comfortable with the current situation since he did not own a car and therefore did not buy fuel directly. However, Mr. Appiah (a public transport owner) expressed his dissatisfaction, stating that the increment in fuel prices had affected his business since it had eroded part of the profits he was expecting to make at the end of the working day. He added that he and other transport owners might start pushing for a corresponding increase in transport fares. Other people interviewed expressed divers opinions on how the increase in fuel prices has affected them.
One thing remains clear, if fuel prices continue to increase at this rate in Ghana, drivers and transport owners may push for increment in transportation fares, which may trigger an upsurge in the prices of goods and services. All these may eventually culminate in a rise in inflation thereby worsening the state of the economy.
Daniel Agbenyega (Research/Journalist)
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