As global oil prices continue to rally, rising above $67 (Rwf36,224) for the first time since November 2008, on sustained hopes for a global economic recovery, a top government official has said that this will not affect Rwanda.

Over the last one-month, crude oil  prices have risen from $53.50 (Rwf29,746) to settle at $67.70 (Rwf37,641.2) a barrel, on international market the price of oil has climbed 30 percent in May, the largest monthly gain since 1999.

Antoine Ruvebana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in an interview that Rwanda has a strategic reserve which will keep the country for over a month as it waits for prices to stabilise.

"Our entire depots are full and we are aware of the global increase of the prices but this shouldn’t cause any alarm because we have enough reserve and we have changed the Kenyan root we have been using for our oil imports,” he said.

On the local market, petrol and diesel pump prices have remained stable at Rwf756 and Rwf756 per liter respectively. This has been a strong factor for the current inflation trend.

Annual inflation fell to 13.64 percent in April 2009 from 21 percent in October last year.

"We are organising a meeting with the private sector to tell them about the ongoing situation and we will brief them on how we will handle the state of affairs,” Ruvebana said.

The increasing global fuel prices have triggered an increase of pump prices in some neighboring countries. It is speculated that global oil prices could reach $80 (Rwf 45,044)-$90(rwf 50,674) a barrel by early next year.

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