The government’s plan to increase LPG usage has alarmed the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association, which claims that ongoing tax increases would thwart this objective.
Their remark is in reaction to the recent introduction of a new LPG tax by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) as part of the updated pricing system, which will go into effect on April 1, 2024.
The Association was quite critical of this action, especially of the suppliers’ premium of $80 per metric ton (MT), which was added for the purpose of funding cylinder and bottling plant investment margins.
They contended that the Authority’s disdain for the decrease in consumption since 2021 was demonstrated by this levy, which was deemed unreasonable.
The Vice President of the Association, Gabriel Kumi, emphasized that the government cannot expect to boost LPG usage and implement additional taxes during a Point Blank interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM. He likened this to wanting to “have its cake and eat it too.”
That would discourage consumers from using the product, he claimed.
“You can’t eat your cake and have it. You can’t set such laudable objectives and at the same time you keep piling taxes on the product to push away consumers.”
“…There’s no way you can continue piling taxes on the product and at the same time expect to achieve an increment in consumption,”
Credit: CitiNewsroom
