Senyo Hosi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), has attributed the country’s commercial banks’ being forced to buy petroleum products at their doorsteps to an insufficient supply of foreign currency.
The statement follows a Bloomberg story that said Ghana risks a potential fuel scarcity as a result of the Bank of Ghana’s dollar limitation.
The cost of importing fuel into Ghana increased from $250 million in January to $450 million in May.
Addressing a media dialogue on the topic “Forex Challenges and Ghana’s Fuel Supply” organized by the chamber, Mr. Hosi called for a more structured approach to the supply of forex for Bulk Oil Distributors.
“The situation at the market today is that the commercial banks do not have adequate capacity to meet our needs and even when they can, the price at which they wish to sell their dollars will actually throw petroleum prices at the pumps totally out of wire, It will push them very high so everyone wants to depend on the relatively cheaper USD coming from the central bank”.
He further explained that “the central bank began its direct intervention and support for the petroleum sector in April through the special auction. It started with about 85% of our requirements expecting the commercial banks to cover the balance of 15% which they did but in a structured fashion. As we speak, it has dropped to about 21%, in the previous window, I think it was about 24%. The rest is supposed to be met by the commercial banks. The commercial banks are having a liquidity problem so that is where we are today and that is why when we have a lot more support or structured support from the central bank, things will actually stabilize”.
