The tool we already built: What the NPA's diesel relief says about Ghana's stabilisation gap

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) announced on August 4 that the regulatory margin on diesel had been reduced by GH¢2.00 per litre, bringing the price floor down to GH¢14.97 across Ghana. This decision provided immediate and tangible relief for transport operators, haulage firms, and households. The NPA moved quickly to communicate the decision to oil marketing companies and the public.

This relief came from a fresh, one-off directive, implemented efficiently but reactively, rather than a pre-designed mechanism. Ghana has an instrument called the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PSRL), established under the Energy Sector Levies Act, 2015 (Act 899), which is meant to collect a small levy during stable periods and draw from it when global crude prices or a weakening cedi threaten to push pump prices upward. Independent assessments have pointed out that the PSRL account has, at various points, accumulated hundreds of millions of cedis without being drawn down for its intended stabilisation purpose.