In an effort to keep the partial fuel subsidy on diesel and kerosene, the energy regulator has slightly lowered fuel prices.
The price of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel per litre were decreased by Sh1 and Sh2, respectively, by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), on Friday.
As a result, Nairobi’s retail prices for gasoline will be Sh178.3, Sh163 for diesel, and Sh146.94 for kerosene per litre.
In Mombasa, gasoline costs Sh175.98, diesel costs Sh160.76, and kerosene costs Sh144.69; in Eldoret, same prices are Sh178.5, Sh163.72, and Sh147.67, respectively.
“The modifications to the maximum permitted petroleum pump prices in Nairobi, taking into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products and in accordance with government policy, are as follows: Super gasoline, diesel, and kerosene each see a per-litre price drop of Sh1, Sh2, and Sh1, respectively “Daniel Kiptoo, director-general of Epra, said in a statement.
Despite a sharper decline in the price of imported petroleum products, the marginal drop still occurs.
This was done in an effort to stop the fuel price from dropping considerably further, which may have required the government to pay further billions of shillings in compensation to oil marketing businesses.
Between August and September, when the current-priced product was imported, the landed price of gasoline decreased by 10.6% per cubic metre.
Kerosene’s landed cost decreased by 1.82 percent, while diesel’s dropped by 6.87 percent.
Modest subsidy
After eliminating the subsidy on gasoline last month, the government has continued to provide a minor subsidy for diesel and kerosene.
To protect consumers from the otherwise high prices, a subsidy of Sh18.15 per litre and Sh27.47 per litre has been maintained for diesel and kerosene, respectively. According to Mr. Kiptoo, the government will use the Petroleum Development Levy to make up the cost difference and pay oil marketing businesses.
Consumers who are currently struggling with a five-year high rise in the cost of living because of high expenditures for fuel, electricity, food, and loans are not helped by the increased pricing.
Even though the price of maize flour increased by 8.4% between August and September, the cost of power increased by 20.9%, and the cost of fuel increased by 17.7%, inflation reached a 63-month high in September.
