Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper has stated that when the high price of crude oil is maintained, Ghana could rake in more revenue to finance its expenditures.
Government’s revenue target for 2022 is GH¢100billion as stated by Finance Ministry from a previous GH¢72 billion target for 2021.
In a Citi Business News interview, Seth Terkper however indicated that the revenue target for the year is too high but, “let me add that crude oil will make a difference because a lower benchmark will have been used by government.”
He said, “We are waiting to see if there will be modifications made to the benchmark in the mid-year budget review. Like ourselves, we used $56 to replace $99, now it’s going to be the reverse. So crude oil revenue is going to come in and is going to contribute to achieving the year’s revenue target.”
Oil prices have for the past three months been on the rise. Crude oil began the year selling at about $76 to a high of about $140 in early March.
However prices have dropped to about $100 in the past few days.
This however affected fuel prices in Ghana with fuel and diesel selling at over GH¢9.
Despite a drop in the volume of oil exported by Ghana, data from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has disclosed that Ghana’s revenue from oil production increased by 17.5% in 2021 to US$783.33 million by the end of the year, mainly on account of higher fuel prices.
Seth Tekper, former finance minister