Tanzania: Government suspends new fuel prices

By Sharon Sauwa

The government has suspended fuel prices that came into effect on Wednesday September 1, and formed a team to investigate the cause of rising prices.

Speaking in Parliament today September 1, 2021 the Acting Director of the Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (Ewura), Godfrey Chibulunje said every first Wednesday of the month Ewura announces new fuel prices.

He said yesterday they released new fuel price list that came into effect on Wednesday, September 1.

He said that as the price has risen and will continue to rise, the government has decided to take action to suspend and prices caps for August will continue to apply.

Chibulunje said the government has formed a special team to investigate and look at the indicators that are causing prices to rise and when done they will give special instructions.

He said the team has involve the Ministry of Finance and Planning, the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Minerals, the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Ewura and other institutions that appear to be doing similar work.

However, he said the team has not been given a specific time and instructions on how to they will do their job.

"The goal is to indicate what has caused the rise in prices. There are many things that are possible.

He said they would look into what they had accomplished and recommend what to do away with.

This is the third time third time that oil prices have risen this year since April.

During a press briefing on Tuesday August 31, 2021, the authority's Public Relations and Communications Manager Titus Kaguo told reporters that the price rise is due to changes in the global market.

According to the latest report, the price of petrol at the Dar es Salaam port has increased by Sh84, diesel Sh29, while kerosene sees its price jump by Sh18.

With the increase, consumers will now pay Sh2,511 for a litre of petrol in Dar es Salaam, Sh2,291 for diesel, and Sh2,194 for kerosene.

"At the Tanga port, the price of petrol has hiked by Sh53, diesel Sh14, with kerosine remaining unchanged. At the Mtwara port petrol prices have surged by Sh108 and diesel by Sh46," said Kaguo.

According to the Manager, prices in some regions will depend on where the fuel comes from between the ports but the price is indicative.

However, he warned some traders not to use the opportunity to raise prices beyond what was announced by the authorities as doing so would be a mistake.

He gave an example of some places such as Dar es Salaam where petrol will be sold at Sh2511 while Ngorongoro district will be sold at Sh2680.

This article was originally published by The Citizen. [Photo: File]