Fuel prices won’t change - government
A man fuels his motorcycle at a petrol station. Government has said fuel prices will remain stable not only in the festive season but throughout the best part of the year. Photo by Stephen Wandera.
What you need to know:
Government says it prepared for the festive season by adequately stocking the Jinja reserves.
Kampala
Pump prices for petrol and diesel are expected to remain unchanged not just throughout the festive season but at least till the end of the first quarter of the New Year.
For the first time in years, the national fuel reserves in Jinja, according to the Ministry of Energy senior technocrat, has been stocked with a view to maintain regular supply of fuel in case of any shortage as it tends to be often the case around this time of the year.
In an interview in the week, the Commissioner of Petroleum Supply, Ministry of energy, Rev Frank Tukwasibwe, said any pump price increase or raise in transport fares should not be attributed to shortage of supply as this time round, the government dealt with the issue (supply constraints) ahead of time. Slightly before the festive season, major fuel dealers like Kobil and Shell, particularly in Kampala, had sliced pump prices from about Shs3,560 to Shs3,530 per litre of petrol while diesel dropped from Shs3,280 to Shs3,250.
All factors constant
Mr Ivan Kyayonka, the outgoing Shell (Vivo) Uganda country manager said so long as the oil prices at international market remains unchanged, the dollar volatility continues to be kept at bay. He added that government does not tamper with the taxation regime; there is no way the fuel price can go up. And those who increase it outside the aforementioned arrangements are companies he termed as “petty”.
The chairperson of the Petroleum Dealers Association, Mr Rajni Tailor, said the country has not just stocked enough fuel but there are no buyers for the imports. This, he said will see the pump price remain stable until later part of the first quarter of 2014.
