Gasop Boss Warns Gov’t On Power Tariff Cuts

Chief Executive Officer of Gasop Oil, Kojo Poku, is admonishing the government to tread cautiously with its plan to review electricity tariffs in the 2018 budget, since the fundamentals that led to the huge energy sector debts have not changed.

President Nana Akufo-Addo who was addressing patrons at an awards and dinner programme organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) over the weekend, hinted at a reduction in power tariffs in the 2018 budget to be presented in parliament by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on Wednesday, 15 November.

But energy expert Kojo Poku considers the move as risky, given the high debt in the energy sector and wants government to be careful in terms of the volume of reduction.

For him, the non-payment of tariffs by government agencies and other bodies has not changed since the sector recorded a GHS1.2 billion debt at the end of 2016.

“Let’s have in mind that it is a sector with a lot of debt …which is definitely more than GHS1.2 currently, so, if you are promising, you have to be careful,” he added.

He also admits any tariff reduction will hugely impact revenue generation since government is embarking on a number of capital intensive projects.

Source: ClassFMonline