On Tuesday, Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced a hike in fuel prices. The new increase was to come into effect from 15th January and remain in force until February 14, as Kenyans are expected to pay more for the prized commodity.
The price of a litre of super petrol and diesel rose by Sh0.70 and Sh0.54 respectively. Also, the price of kerosene rose by Sh1.64, making it the highest. This is expected to exert little pressure on the cost of living in the country as importers pass the increased import bill to consumers
Henceforth, motorists in Nairobi will pay Sh110.20 for a litre of Super petrol, Sh102.32 for diesel and Sh103.95 for kerosene. Those in Mombasa will pay the least for fuel in the country, with a litre of petrol retailing at Sh108.15, diesel at Sh100.27 and kerosene at Sh101.91.
However, Moyale residents will pay the highest prices, with a litre of petrol going for Sh123.06, diesel for Sh115.17 and kerosene for Sh116.82.
The prices are inclusive of value-added tax (VAT), in line with provisions of the Finance Act of 2018, with the revised rates for Excise Duty adjusted for inflation, the Railway Development Levy, and the import Declaration fee in line with Finance Act of 2019.
In a press statement, EPRA said that “The changes in this month’s prices are a consequence of the average landing cost of imported Super petrol increased by 2.21 percent from $460.83 per cubic metre in November to 471.01 per cubic meter in December 2019.”
The authority said the price of diesel increased by 1.73 percent from $485.29 to $493.68 per cubic meter, and that of kerosene by 5.75 percent from $481.11 to $508.77 per cubic meter.
Despite the shilling strengthening against the dollar appreciating by 0.86 percent from Sh102.20 in November 2019, to Sh101.32 percent in December, there’s still an increase in the fuel prices. With the current US-Iran conflict, fuel prices are expected to rise even higher.
The killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani by the U.S in a drone attack sparked tension in the Middle East, the region that imports most of the global oil. This resulted in a three percent – $69.50 or Sh7,000 – spike in brent prices, the highest level since the mid-September attack on Saudi oil facilities.
With a majority of Kenyans struggling to make ends meet due to the high cost of living, a fuel price increase will drastically affect many households, increase transport costs and the prices of basic goods and services.
This is the worst moment to further increase the costs of basic goods and services considering that Kenyans are already faced the adverse impacts of the al-Shabaab group, locust invasion, decline in the tourism sector and insecurity.
By Faith Ikade.
The post Kenya’s petroleum regulator raises fuel prices due to high import bill appeared first on Ventures Africa.
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