President John Mahama’s bold decision to scrap fuel allowances for all political appointees could result in national savings exceeding GH¢121 million over the next four years, according to Dr. Sharif Mahmud Khalid, Economic Policy Advisor to the Vice President.
Dr. Khalid shared his analysis during an appearance on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, July 15. Using average fuel consumption and current petrol prices from GOIL, he offered a conservative yet impactful estimate of the potential financial gains.
“Ballpark, this is what I did in the studio using GOIL’s figures,” he explained. “I looked at 4×4 and saloon vehicles, and cross-country. So let’s say 500 of saloon cars, 500 of 4x4s… probably 50 litres of fuel for saloon vehicles a week per government appointee.”
Although the government’s total vehicle fleet may exceed 1,000, Dr. Khalid based his projection on just 1,000 cars to ensure the calculation remained modest and credible.
“If you crunch the numbers a bit… on average, the government will be saving probably about a total of GH¢2.5 million plus a month and GH¢30 million plus a year,” he said. “In four years, we’re probably talking the government saving GH¢121 plus million in four years.”
He clarified that he was not suggesting specific plans for how the savings would be used, but offered practical examples to illustrate the scale of the benefit.
“A maternity block for a hospital or clinic costs probably about GH¢1.5 million… we could probably get an average of 81 of them out of the savings,” he said.
Dr. Khalid added that the same amount could fund approximately “303 CHPS compounds” or “121 six-unit classroom blocks”, assuming each project costs around GH¢1 million.
Anticipating skepticism over the decision, he emphasized the broader implications of the policy. “These were things I think we could do before we actually want to say whether it’s a PR gimmick or not,” he said, in response to critics questioning the sincerity behind the measure.
He concluded by highlighting the importance of seeing the full picture. “I’m not saying this is what the government is doing. I’m just trying to give the holistic picture of what expectations we could have, and the savings we could make if we actually adhere to this policy.”
