Prices of sachets and bottled water will from Monday, 27th December 2021 shoot up from their original prices.
The 500ml ice bottled water which is sold at GHC1.50, and the 750ml or medium size iced bottled water will from Monday be retailed at GHC2.
Also, the 1.5L or large bottled water is to be retailed at GHC3.50 as iced sachet water will be retailed at GHp40.
A bag of sachet water, 500ml of 30pcs, will now sell at GHC4.50 from the retail trucks.
Mini shops will now retail a bag of sachet at GHC6.
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.
The National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers (NASPAWAP) in consultation with its stakeholders announced in a statement that these reviews serve as a guide to all regional associations and to ensure uniformity across the country.
According to the NEC, there might be a slight variation in prices across the regions due to haulage to remote and distant areas across the country.
“At our previous review, the Ghana Cedi to the dollar was in the region of GHC4.50. Currently it is inching up to GHC6.50. Fuel prices have also significantly gone up since our last review”.
“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 prices consumers have to bear”.
The NEC explains that “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”.
The statement continues that “It has become necessary that some of these indirect taxes, production, and distribution costs, be passed on to the consumer, adding that “It is important for consumers to know that any bottled water they purchase has a fixed levy of 23.5% besides VAT/NHIL”.
“The fixed levies are made up of 17.5% excise tax plus additional 6% levy before VAT/NHIL”.
It is unfortunate to know that beer with local raw material content just above 50% attracts 10% excise as compared with 17.5% on bottled water which has over 95% to 100% local content”.
The NEC of NASPAWAP wishes to call on the government to engage with all stakeholders to correct this anomaly by 15th January 2022, to help sustain the local water industry and reduce the cost of potable water to Ghanaians.
“Ghana has the highest taxes on locally produced and packaged water in the whole world. Imported bottled water, on the other hand, is evading and avoiding taxes, thus distorting the market, and causing revenue losses to the state”.
“The NEC wishes to crave the indulgence of the consuming public to bear with us in our bid to sustain the local water industry” the statement underscored.
BY Daniel Bampoe