Fuel Price Update: ZERA Reduces Petrol Price
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has reduced fuel prices by two cents with effect from the 21st of December 2022.
In a statement seen by Pindula News, the regulator said petrol would now be sold at US$1.48 per litre down from the previous US$1.50.
In the local currency, the fuel price was reduced from ZW$1 007.45 to ZW$1 001.20.
ZERA said the US dollar price for diesel remained the same at US$1.62 per litre, but had been hiked in local currency to ZW$1 094.04, from ZW$1 090.38 per litre. Read the statement in part:
The public and operators are advised that the blending ratio for unleaded petrol is at 5%. Operators may sell the petroleum products below the prescribed prices depending on their trading advantages and should display prices in a prominent place as provided for by the fuel pricing regulations.
With the average global fuel price at US$1.28, Zimbabwe’s fuel is still expensive.
A World Petrol Price Check statement said fuel prices differ from country to country due to taxes imposed on fuel markets by their governments. Read the statement:
All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of gasoline is different.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa early this year said he had directed that duty on fuels be reduced by US 13 cents among other measures to ensure the supply in the market remains stable and affordable.
Fuel prices went up in February with the government attributing the increase to the war between Russia and Ukraine which they said disrupted global trade as the two countries are the main producers of oil.
Analysts, however, observed that while the war had an effect on economies worldwide, fuel in Zimbabwe was more expensive when compared to its regional counterparts and this was due to higher taxes. That is when President Mnangagwa directed that the taxes be reduced.
