Rumbidzai Ngwenya
THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) on Sunday announced a five percent decrease in fuel price.
Diesel is now going at US$1.60 or $213.90 from US$1.68 or 218.01, while petrol is now pegged at US$1.59 or $213.49 from US$1.67 or $216.78.
“Prices have been set in accordance with oil price patterns on the international market, which the authority is continuously monitoring,” Zera said in a petroleum price review for week 21-27 March 2022.
Retailers and Industries have welcomed the development although they felt a lot more needs to be done.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CRZ) president Denford Mutashu yesterday said the development would go a long way in reducing prices of goods and services.
“The decline in fuel price is a welcome development towards a journey to improve the business environment by touching on major cost drivers like energy and power,” Mutashu told the Daily News yesterday.
“The anticipation, barring global developments, is for the decline to take precedence until stabilisation. This should go a long way in reducing prices of basic and non-essential commodities.”
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), however, feared for the sustainability of the trend.
“As per Zera statement, the reduction follows development patterns on the international markets. Barrel prices have come down. This is welcome for the Zimbabwe economy.
“However, the fear is on how sustainable this downward trend is. As we may all know, global oil prices are driven by various factors outside the realm of Zimbabwe. We should ride the wave whilst we can,” CZI president Kurai Matsheza told the Daily News yesterday.
Matsheza pleaded with authorities to have a re-look at Zimbabwe fuel taxes which remained very high.
“On Zimbabwe’s part, there is a need to look at how taxes are levied on fuel.
“From an industry perspective, we strongly believe fuel taxes are too high.
“Within the region, Zimbabwe has the highest fuel tax,” he said.
Prices of fuel had gone up since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which had unsettled global prices, including that of Zimbabwe.