“Fuel price will keep going up”

Trade, Industry and Tourism (HI&T) Minister Stephen Tsang recently announced that he and his departments are busy with the fuel price predictions so that the fuel price hike at the gas stations would not come as a surprise to the people. Minister Tsang told Times of Suriname that the fuel prices will go up in the coming weeks. Commenting on reports that indicate that a movement will fight the fuel price hike, the minister said that he would like to ask that movement to go to Kuwait or the United States of America to protest against the US president. Minister Tsang explained that fuel prices are rising because of tensions in the Middle East and the problems in Venezuela which produces less oil, causing the price of crude oil to go up. “There is nothing we can do about that,” said Minister Tsang who added that 1 liter of fuel already costs more than 1 US dollar in neighboring Guyana. “We are still far below that price but the prices will keep going up,” said the minister who explained that the government tried to keep fuel prices manageable by discussing the issue with the Finance Ministry and decided to hand in 17 cents of the fuel tax which is generally referred to as the government take. The minister also explained that the government take is also used to pay wages. “Without the government’s intervention, the price of fuel would already be above SRD 7. 1 liter of gasoline currently costs SRD 6.91. If one adds the 17 cents to that figure one can conclude that the price would already be above SRD 7. The minister pointed out that he wants to keep the price of fuel below SRD 7. “We and the Finance Ministry will discuss what is and what is not possible,” said Minister Tsang.