Namibians should prepare to dig deeper into their pockets as fuel prices continue to increase due to the global crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as effective 06 April 2022, the petrol price will increase by N.dollars 1.95 per litre and diesel by N.dollars 2.95 per litre.
Speaking at a media briefing here on Thursday, Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy, Kornelia Shilunga said the geopolitical tensions of Eastern Europe have caused the sharp increases in petroleum products, noting that diesel and petrol are controlled products imported into Namibia by licensed wholesale companies at a price which is set at international level.
She noted that the average price of petrol significantly increased in March from US.dollars 109 to US.dollars 129 per barrel, whilst diesel has increased from US.dollars 109 to US.dollars 144 per barrel.
“The oil prices are driven by market uncertainties regarding the availability of Russian oil in the market. Russia is the world’s second-largest crude oil producer after Saudi Arabia. There continues to be a widening mismatch between global oil supply and oil demand. The scarcity of a commodity usually means high prices for that commodity,” she said.
Shilunga noted that although the Namibian dollar slightly appreciated (ganined value) against the US dollar in March, the appreciation was not significant enough to offset the sharp increase in fuel products during the period under review.
She indicated that the ministry has initiated a consultative process with the Ministry of Finance and institutions that derive revenue from the levies and taxes imposed on the price of petroleum to explore the possibility of reducing some of the levies to soften the burden on fuel consumers.
Shilunga further noted that the National Energy Fund will cover all the under-recoveries recorded at the end of March 2022 amounting to N.dollars 390 million on behalf of fuel consumers.
“The country is indeed facing a very tough and uncertain situation over the coming months given what is happening in the world currently, moving forward great financial sacrifices will have to be made at both individual and collective level because it is the only way we will be able to overcome the current difficulties,” Shilunga said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
