Govt Abandons Zim Dollar Priced Fuel Plan
The government says it will not force fuel service stations to sell fuel to sell in US dollars except for those that get fuel direct from the government amid fears that forcing players could cause shortages.
Every time the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) sets new fuel prices, it announces the price of petroleum products in both USD and ZWL but fuel is hardly available in the local currency.
In February, ZERA announced it was expecting to have more outlets selling in local currency but has hitherto made little if any progress in that regard.
ZERA chief executive Eddington Mazambani told Business Times that the plan was no longer sustainable. He said:
We no longer have plans to convince fuel dealers to sell in ZWL$ but they can do so if they want.
The move comes after the realisation that this could destabilise the stable fuel sector.
There are some service stations that get fuel direct from the government, they are urged to sell in ZWL$ as they are getting it at a subsidised price.
Mazambani revealed that Petrotrade, CMED, Zuva, and Genesis are some of the service stations currently selling fuel in local currency.
Fuel is being sold at US$1.51 and US$1.74 per litre for petrol and diesel respectively.
The fuel was around US$1.30 per litre in January before Russia invaded Ukraine which triggered a global fuel price hike.
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