Water And Electricity Taxes Are Going Up By More Than 20% In September – PURC

Ghana will raise its water and electricity tariffs by more than a fifth in September, its utilities regulator said on Monday, as the West African country grapples with soaring inflation, debt and a depreciating currency.

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The average end-user tariffs for electricity and water will increase by 27.15% and 21.55% respectively, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) said in a statement, citing increased power costs, inflation and foreign exchange rates among the reasons.

โ€œSome level of increases in utility tariffs were inevitable if the nation was to avoid another dumsor,โ€ the regulator said, using a local term for blackouts.

The last major review of tariffs, which was in 2018, resulted in a 17.5% reduction for residential consumers and 30% reduction for non-residential consumers in electricity tariffs, the PURC said, adding that since then the countryโ€™s macroeconomic situation has deteriorated.

Ghanaโ€™s consumer inflation accelerated to 31.7% annually in July, its highest since late 2003, data showed last week.

The cedi currency has depreciated around 30% this year and all three major credit rating agencies have downgraded Ghanaโ€™s sovereign bonds to โ€˜junkโ€™ status.

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