{"id":647143,"date":"2019-06-28T16:59:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T16:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"
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The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced an 8.01% increase in water tariff, effective July 1.<\/p>\n

This, the regulator said had become necessary because \u201cthe inflation rate has gone up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another factor which necessitated the increase is the local currency\u2019s depreciation against the dollar and other major currencies, Chairman of PURC\u2019s Technical Committee, Ishmael Agyekumhene explained.<\/p>\n

In the last tariff review in September 2018, the exchange rate used\u00a0was GH\u00a24.43 to a dollar. In that review, the tariff was reduced by 10.08%. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the exchange rate used to determine the current review is GH\u00a25.05,\u201d Mr Agyekumhene noted.<\/p>\n

He added that taking the two factors into consideration, they \u201csimply couldn\u2019t have kept the tariffs at where they are unless we can hold everything constant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ghana Water disappointed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has expressed disappointment in the rate of the increment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Communications Director of the GWCL, Stanley Martey\u00a0told Joy News\u00a0they were expecting a higher rate as requested but they must work with what the regulator has given them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said with the electricity tariffs going up, 44% of their expenditure would be spent on power so \u201cit is a difficult for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resistance<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) kicking against 11.17% increase in electricity tariff announced last Friday, the latest announcement is expected to be resisted too.<\/p>\n

The NDC said the increased tariff will only deepen economic hardship.<\/p>\n

This is the first increase in tariffs since March 2018 when\u00a0the PURC\u00a0announced a\u00a010-30 percent reduction in prices of electricity.\u00a0Residential consumers got a 17.5% reduction while non-residential got 30% slashed off.<\/p>\n

The NDC called the move populist.<\/p>\n