The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi has urged the public not to engage in panic buying of fuel because the country has a one-month fuel cover.
Urging the public not to panic following a Bloomberg report about a looming shortage of fuel, Hosi said members of the Chamber were working to keep the situation stable.
Yes, we are having challenges accessing dollars and if that continues, we will not be able to buy fuel. That has been anticipated and we are working with the respective institutions to keep the situation stable,” Hosi said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
Hosi said though the Bank of Ghana (BOG) through a special dispensation was providing Bulk Oil Distributing Companies (BDCs) dollars, it was not enough.
The BoG started by giving BDCs 50 per cent of our required dollars. This has been scaled down to about 25 per cent. We had to go to the open market to buy additional forex to supplement it,” he said.
A Bloomberg report, today Tuesday, June 21, 2022, said the country faced a looming fuel shortage as the central bank rationed dollars after oil prices surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It said the monthly fuel import bill for the country increased to $450 million in May, from $250 million in January
The report said the central bank was only offering about $100 million a month at its foreign exchange auctions, and that licensed bulk distributors could no longer plug the shortfall in the black market.
Abdul Kudus, the Public Relations Officer of National Petroleum Authority said there was enough stock to meet domestic demand contrary to speculations in the media.
He said the NPA was continuously monitoring the weekly schedule of fuel imports to ensure that there was constant supply.
