Fuel prices up 12%: Zera

THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) yesterday increased the price of fuel by 12 percent, after keeping the price unchanged for previous two consecutive weeks.

The temporary reprieve had come as a relief to motorists and consumers who had become used to weekly price hikes since the oncea-week reviews were introduced over two months ago.

The authority said the price of petrol, effective October 28, would be $16.75 per litre from $14.97, while diesel was up by $1.83 to $17.47 per litre.

“Operators may, however, sell at prices below the cap depending on their trading advantages,” Zera said.

The price increase was mainly influenced by exchange rate movements as the local currency continues to slide against major currencies. At the last price review, the floating inter-bank rate was US$1 to ZWL$13, but in the past two weeks it had depreciated to US$1 to $16.

From August, Zera had been increasing fuel prices weekly in tandem with the floating exchange rate and international price movements, much to the chagrin of motorists. This was after Government stopped subsidising the price of fuel, allowing sellers to buy foreign currency on the open market to import the commodity.

But inspite of the constant price increases, the commodity has remained scarce, with winding queues a common feature at most fuel stations. Government blames foreign currency shortages for the fuel shortages, which have persisted for years. — New Ziana