Zimbabwe fuel prices rose by more than seven percent on Monday as sparks from the Russia-Ukraine conflict started being felt in the southern African country.
A litre of petrol now costs between US$1.48 and US$1.51 in the capital Harare, depending on the fuel station visited. The same quantity was priced between US$1.41 and US$1.44 last week.
Diesel prices shot to between US$1.46 and US$1.51 per litre, up from between US$1.36 and US$1.39 previously.
The sharp rise has triggered fears of further increases in coming weeks as long as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine drags on, a development likely to result in the tightening of global oil supplies in the medium to long-term.
There has been talk of a global ban on fuel imports from Russia as part of the raft of sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Any such boycott could, however, trigger a global fuel shortage since Russia is one of the world’s largest suppliers of the commodity.
JN/APA