Government says, it will continue to invest heavily in social infrastructure with a view to ensuring that water supply improves across the country and also supporting the deployment of equipment for power generation and supply.

“While we expect that the new tariffs approved by the PURC will improve the revenue base of the companies, government will continue to provide the required financial support to provide the necessary infrastructure for the utilities to operate efficiently.”

Government says it decided to absorb in excess of 48 million Ghana Cedis as subsidy on behalf of the domestic consumer class, who usually consume between 0 and 50 units in order to bridge the gap between residential tariff and the full and actual cost of consumption.

“The subsidy we are providing the already overburdened domestic consumer is intended to relieve them of any further hardship, while we continue to work towards creating a Better Ghana”, the statement explained.

It also urged the Ghana Water Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana to reduce their operational and financial wastage, adding that government will be monitoring strictly the management of their operations to ensure that they provide the best of service to consumers.

Government is meanwhile working on a plan to pay off the huge water and electricity bill arrears it owes the utility companies. It however urged the companies to strengthen debt collection and move to clamp down on illegal connections.