The National Petroleum Authority, (NPA), has announced a 17.17 percent slash off the price of petrol in Ghana, effective Friday morning.

The authority’s Chief Executive Officer, John Attafuah was on national television, GTV Thursday night to announce the ‘Christmas present’ to Ghanaians and explained that the reduction brings a gallon of petrol to “GH¢3.15 per gallon or ¢31,500 in the old currency.”

He expects transport fares to be reduced latest by Monday since the Ministry of Transportation and the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council have been communicated to on the price reductions.

John Attafuah explained that the huge slash is in response to complaints from transport owners “that the minimal reduction strategy that we had adopted was not enough to give them room to adjust their fares. So after meeting with them, we said that it is necessary that we did it in a bigger jump to allow them to also effect the reduction in their fares so that it will impact on the travelling public.”

He discounted any political motivation for the huge slash though, insisting that the move is to stall the unwillingness of transport owners to reduce fares because the reduction was usually insubstantial.

“We started reducing prices before anybody talked about it. Remember we used to do it on a regular basis and when it hit 147, (World crude price) we did not go to 147 and nobody said they would have gone to 147 when it went to 147. We have tried to stay away from the discussion relating to the population and just done our work as the figures dictate. It is possible that some people would allude to this and say that maybe they caused it or not caused it but when we were doing the earlier reductions, starting in mid-October to now, it had not been because anybody had caused it, but because the transporters had refused, always bringing up the argument that the drop was not high enough. Then we said ok, let’s do something substantial so that they would not have any cause to refuse to come down. And that is why it is being done now.

“And it’s also the end of our cycle, our cycle is two weeks, the two weeks would be ending today, (Thursday). Monday new prices should have come but then we needed to do this so that they would have the opportunity to also adjust and not say that we took them by surprise.”

The previous price reduction in petroleum prices in November were between eight and thirteen percent, however transport fares remained unchanged as transport owners spawned several entreaties, and even warnings to reduce fares.

They argued that fuel cost was only one of several cost components in their industry and could not always determine fare levels.