ACCRA Dec 29 (Reuters) - Ghana has cut
fuel subsidies following an increase in
crude oil prices and the depreciation of
the Ghana cedi currency, the head of
Ghana's National Petroleum Authority
(NPA) said in a statement on Thursday. Ghana, which joined the club of oil
producers in West Africa last year, has
come under increased pressure from the
International Monetary Fund to remove
the fuel subsidies. The IMF has urged countries across West
and Central Africa to cut fuel subsidies,
which they say are not effective in directly
aiding the poor, but do promote
corruption and smuggling. The past months have seen governments
in Nigeria, Guinea, Cameroon and Chad
moving to cut state subsidies on fuel. Alex Mould said the cumulative effect of
the rise in crude oil prices this year and
the about 5.7 percent depreciation of the
cedi meant a 25 percent increase in cedi
terms in the cost of procuring crude oil
and petroleum products since January. Mould, the Chief Executive Officer of the
NPA, said Ghana has spent about 450
million cedis ($276 million) on fuel
subsidies in 2011. The price change effective from Dec. 29,
will see the cost of Liquefied Petroleum
Gas (LPG) increase by 30 percent while
petrol and diesel will go up 15 percent at
pump. Mould said the NPA would be monitoring
crude oil prices and will not to increase or
decrease pump prices if the average
crude price stay within the $107-110 per
barrel range. Brent crude rose 4 cents to $107.60 a
barrel by 0933 GMT on Thursday after
falling nearly $2 the day before, while the
Ghana cedi was trading at 1.6370/95 to
the U.S. dollar. Ghana's Minister for Finance Kwabena
Duffour said the removal of subsidies
would have a positive impact on Ghana's
economy. "Subsidising fuel is not sustainable,"
Duffour told Reuters. "It is the right thing
to do so we can sustain our fiscal
consolidation." (Reporting by Clair
MacDougall; Writing by Bate Felix, editing

I've been wondering why the IMF is trying to shove the subsidy removal down our throat even when they know that the current governments would still misuse the money gained, still be corrupt and steal the money at any available chance they get instead of using on the people as IMF proposed.