Fuel prices rise again

Government has announced increase in pump prices for petroleum products with effect from today, citing an increase in global fuel prices per barrel.A statement from the Ministry of Trade and Industry indicates that pump prices have been increased by Rwf60 to Rwf 1000, up from Rwf 940, an increase the government says is unavoidable. “The increase in fuel prices is mainly due to the high oil prices on international market where a barrel of crude oil has gone up by 17 percent since January 2012,” the statement reads.Prices on the global market rose by 10 percent to USD $96 per barrel, up from 87 barrel per barrel in December 2010 as a result of global spillovers caused mainly by increase in fuel prices.In a bid to scale down the effects, government was forced to increase prices in January 2011 from Rwf 952 to Rwf 965 with another drastic increment in April, the same year, where pump prices jumped to Rwf1060.Nevertheless fuel prices dropped further to 1,025 in June 2011, before they were slashed again to Rwf 940, this year, a relief that helped the National Bank of Rwanda to shock off imported inflation and maintained inflation in single digits unlike its counterparts in the regionThe Ministry cautioned fuel dealers to respect the set fuel prices which, however, may lead to increase in transport fares and commodity prices that pushed up this year due to increase in inflation.