President John Dramani Mahama stepped in front of a worried nation on Saturday and delivered a clear message: Ghana will not run dry.
Addressing delegates at the 2026 Kwahu Business Forum in Mpraeso, Eastern Region, Mahama moved to douse growing public anxiety over fuel supplies following the escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict. The war has rattled global oil markets and sent crude prices surging — pain that Ghanaian consumers felt sharply when new pump prices kicked in on April 1. For a country still navigating economic recovery, another external shock threatening fuel stability carries serious weight.
Ghana currently holds six weeks of petroleum stocks, the President confirmed, and the government continues to replenish those reserves even as the nation draws from them. “We have six months of export cover and six weeks of petroleum stocks, so there is no danger of us running out of petroleum products. Even as we utilise the reserve stock, we are simultaneously replenishing it,” Mahama stated. He acknowledged the unpredictability of global events but argued that Ghana’s task is to build an economy capable of absorbing them. “As we have always said, shocks will come and you cannot always predict these external events. However, you must build an economy that is resilient enough to withstand them,” he said.
The President did not downplay the conflict’s real-world consequences for Ghanaians. Fuel prices shot up steeply at the start of April, with petrol climbing roughly 15 percent to approximately GH¢13.30 per litre and diesel rising about 19 percent to GH¢17.10 per litre for the April 1–15 pricing window — among the sharpest single-period increases in recent memory, according to the National Petroleum Authority. The relatively stable cedi has cushioned some of the blow, but higher transport costs and fresh inflationary pressure now loom over households already stretched thin.
Mahama responded by convening an emergency cabinet meeting specifically to tackle the fuel price surge. “I have called for this emergency cabinet meeting to decide on specific measures we can take to cushion petroleum prices while we hope the conflict comes to an end. There are adjustments we can make, particularly in the margins, to help maintain relatively stable prices as we pray for the war to cease,” he said. Cabinet will scrutinise the components of the fuel price build-up — including margins and levies — to identify where relief is possible without compromising fiscal stability. “The government remains fully committed to easing the burden on citizens,” he added.
Despite the turbulence, Mahama drew a firm line under speculation about economic collapse. “I can confidently tell you that the economy will not collapse because of the war in Iran,” he said, pointing to what he described as the economy’s demonstrated resilience since the conflict intensified.
Whether cabinet’s interventions prove swift and substantial enough to shield ordinary Ghanaians at the pump will be the true measure of that resilience.
Source: MyJoyOnline
