- Death and Injuries Reported Following School bus Accident - November 24, 2024
- Kenya to go on With Handing Over JKIA - November 24, 2024
- What Next for Ruto After Kuria Heckling in Murang’a? - November 23, 2024
Monday, November 6, 2023 –Government has announced a further increase in fuel prices in the country.
Appearing before the National Dialogue Committee NDC at the Bomas of Kenya today Monday November 6 morning, Energy Cabinet Secretary CS Davies Chirchir said, from his research on global fuel price productions, prices could soon move up to sh 300 per liter.
He attributed this to the ongoing instability in the oil producing nations among them Israel and Palestine.
He said the conflict was not only hitting the two nations involved but it had escalated economic ripples across the globe.
“I read an article in the Financial Times the other day that because of the Hamas and Israeli War, the international prices could go up to USD150 and that would literally mean our products going to a high of sh 300 at the pump,” Chirchir told NDC.
Mr. Chirchir who was fielding questions from the Dialogue Committee members said, his ministry can do nothing to push down the prices since it was a global crisis.
Asked on what he thinks about the current sh 217 and whether the government was working on modalities to lower the cost, the Energy CS argued that it was necessary for the fighting oil producing nations to heed to the calls to pull out of their fight before any normalcy in the oil market can be expected.
Currently, a litre of petrol is retailing at sh 217 per litre, the highest in history. Kenyans started the year with petrol at sh 177 per litre.
When the new administration – Kenya Kwanza – came into power, it decided to do away with the subsidy which had been there for a long time and, instead, replaced it with Fuel Stabilization Fund.
Moreover, the VAT was immediately doubled from the normal eight percent to sixteen percent on oil in the country.
The move has seen a drastic increase in pump prices of Kerosene, Petrol and Diesel in the market with upward changes still predicted.
At the moment, Ruto’s government is facing public outrage following the cost of living that has since hit the rooftop with the Kenyan shilling also weakening every day.
