500ml (small size) bottled water to be sold at GH¢1.50
Recommendations to increase prices in 2016 and 2018 were not adhered to
The NASPWP has recommended that a sachet of water popularly called ‘pure water’ should be sold Gp (pesewas) 40, effective December 27, 2021.
In addition, NASPWP (National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers) has said retailers should sell a 500ml (small size) bottled water at GH¢1.50 – a Gp 50 increase –, the 750ml (medium size) bottled water at GH¢2 and 1.5l (large) bottled water GH¢ 3.50.
‘Pure Water’ has been sold at Gp 20 per sachet since 2015, and previous attempts to increase its price in 2016 and 2018 yielded no results.
A press release signed by the president of the NASPWP Magnus Nunoo said that a bag of sachet water, 500ml by 30pcs, will now sell at GH¢ 4.50 from the retail trucks. Mini shops will now retail a bag of sachet at GH¢ 6 per bag minimum.
“The price reviews have been necessitated by the rising cost of inputs such as fuel, vehicle spare parts and packaging materials which are mainly imported. At our previous review, the Ghana Cedi to the dollar was in the region of GHC 4.50. Currently, it is inching up to GHC 6.50. Fuel prices have also significantly gone up since our last review,” the release said.
The Association added in its statement, “Regrettably, fuel price reviews attract a lot of public outcries anytime the government imposes the slightest tax on it. However, the public turns a blind eye to taxes on bottled water, which account for the high price.
“Consumers have to bear. In the past, producers bore part or all of these huge taxes just to survive, especially in the wake of imported bottled water most of which evade these taxes, but it is becoming increasingly unsustainable for the local water industry. It has become necessary that some of these indirect taxes, production, and distribution costs, be passed on to the consumer.”
Below is the press release by the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers
Bags sachet of water popularly called ‘pure water’