Zimbabwe on Monday raised the price of petrol by 22 percent and that of diesel by 23 percent, the second time it has done so in a week as shortages of fuel continue to cause headaches for the government and the travelling public.
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority raised the price of a litre of petrol from RTGS $6.10 (about US$0.69) to RTGS $7.45 while the cost of a litre of diesel rose from RTGS $5.84 to RTGS $7.19.
The RTGS dollar is a new electronic currency called Real Time Gross Settlement dollar that was introduced in March when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe decided to float the exchange rate.
The last fuel price hike was on July 13 when the prices of petrol and diesel were raised by up to 16 percent.
Monday’s increase is the fifth fuel price hike since the beginning of the year.
It comes two months after the RBZ removed a subsidy on fuel imports by forcing fuel companies to access their foreign currency from the open market compared to the previous arrangement where they used to get allocations from the central bank.
The effect of the withdrawal of the subsidy meant that oil companies now had to pass on the cost of an appreciating exchange rate.
The latest price increase also comes as long queues have become a common feature at service stations across Zimbabwe due to an acute shortage of fuel since late 2018.
JN/APA