Hon John Abdulai Jinapor
Yapei Kusawgu

This Statement is in respect of the 2.45 per cent electricity tariff adjustment for the third quarter 2025.

The Minister of Energy respectfully provide the following explanation in respect of this tariff adjustment, which was announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), a statutory body based on their quarterly review processes, guided by section 16 and section 20 of the PURC’s Commission’s Act, 1997 (Act 538), which ensures that tariffs reflect changes in key macroeconomic variables, preserve utility ability, and protect consumer interest.

Mr Speaker, as Minister, let me put on record that the PURC does not report directly to me and so when this Question or Statement was requested of me, I contacted the PURC for information and so what I present to this House is based on information that I obtained from the PURC. The first thing has to do with the exchange rate dynamics.

I am happy to note, Mr Speaker, that the Ghana cedi has appreciated by about 34 per cent against the US dollar and that is why, contrary to what we were expecting, there was a minimal increment of 2.5 per cent contrary to the 11 per cent that was projected and so, based on the exchange rate performance, we had a positive outlook and hence, we had a low level of price increment.

Mr Speaker, our standard revenues from the PURC were about 50 per cent of unrecovered revenues from 2024, amounting to about GH₵500 million. The reserve margin, which used not to be part of the tariff, thereby creating a huge vacuum, is gradually being absorbed as part of the tariff structure. That is why we saw this marginal increment. In addition to that, a lot of the liquid fuels we procure were not part of the tariff structure.

But cabinet directed that on an incremental basis, on a gradualist approach, we should be capturing some of these liquid fuels. The cost of gas also went up marginally from 7.6 to 7.7. Inflation also accounted for part of the tariff structure and finally, the hydro and thermal mix. All this put together and weighted, gave us the 2.4 per cent instead of what people were predicting to be 11 pe cent. I therefore want to say that this marginal increment was on the back of improvement on the economic front, led by Hon Ato Forson and his team.

Thank you very much. Mr Speaker

Hon Haruna Iddrisu
Tamale South

Mr Speaker, I will indulge you to speak from here.

Just to commend the Hon Minister for Energy and Mr Speaker, to share the fact that as far back as November 2023, the previous administration was adequately informed by the International Monitory Fund (IMF) that the threat to Ghana’s economic stability was energy and the cocoa sector. So, the reforms the Minister for Energy and Green Transition is driving are reforms which ought to have taken place even before the end of December 2024. In fact,

Mr Speaker, at the time, the IMF predicted the debt hang in the energy sector at US$3.1 billion, which was calculated to be 2.8 per cent of GDP. Many of these reforms, Mr Speaker, including what has now been increased as a fuel levy, is the assured way that we can deal with the rising energy debt. But Mr Speaker, my advice to the Minister is that he cannot be taking power in dollars and selling in cedis and have stability. But I commend his reforms effort, particularly the intervention to get the private sector participate in the ECG activities.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.