No guarantee on fuel prices—Mera
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) says there is no guarantee that fuel pump prices in the near future will be mantained amid rising landed costs.
Mera spokesperson Fitina Khonje said this yesterday at a media briefing in Blantyre.
She observed that oil prices globally are still rising at a time the country’s Price Stabilisation Fund has no adequate funds.
Said Khonje: “We are unable to make a forecast because we import from elsewhere and there are so many dynamics at play which can influence price changes. But we cannot guarantee what happens [as regards to prices]. “
Mera has since maintained electricity tariffs at K104. 46 per kilowatt hour.
The authority has also maintained prices for petrol, diesel and paraffin at K899.20 per litre, K898 per litre, K719.60 per litre respectively, despite petrol’ landed costs increasing by 9.8 percent; hence, qualifying for price adjustments.
Mera has, however, hiked the price of liquefied petroleum gas by 5.79 percent to K2 065 from K1 952.
Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito in an interview said while this is good news to consumers, it is only temporary.
He said the rising global prices and depreciation of the local unit against the dollar, makes it more likely that the fuel prices would still go up.
Between December 2020 and March this year, fuel prices have increased by an average 16 percent.
