Zimbabwe: Energy regulator ZERA announces new official fuel price

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority on Tuesday, May 21 disowned an earlier statement which said fuel prices had not increased following the removal of a fuel import subsidy.

The communications officer of Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), Gladman Njanji opined that people should ignore the earlier statement which said the prices had not been increased, adding that the statement was the work of social media.

In the second notice addressed to fuel service stations, ZERA confirmed fuel price increases with effect from Tuesday. The maximum pump price for diesel is now 4.89 RTGS per liter, up from 3.22 RTGS dollars per liter, while that of petrol is now 4.97 RTGS dollars, up from 3.36 RTGS dollars per liter, Xinhua confirmed.

The hike will likely trigger another round of price increases and push up the inflation rate, which reached 75.86 percent in April, the highest in a decade. The price hikes come after the government announced that fuel dealers will now have to buy fuel at the official floating exchange rate. Previously, they could buy fuel at a discounted rate to the US dollar.

"There shall be only one foreign exchange rate to be used in the market for the importation of all goods and services. This means that the 1:1 exchange rate that was being used by oil marketing companies for the procurement of fuel will be discontinued with immediate effect," the governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mangudya said.

According to him, the new position was necessary to promote the efficient use of foreign exchange and minimize and guard against incidences of arbitrage within the economy.

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