Prices as fuel costs soar

The Mozambican Federation of Road Transport Carriers Associations (Fematro) will propose to the government a hike in travel prices, aiming to ensure the sustainability of the activity, due to the cost of fuel, the president of the association told Lusa on Tuesday.“There is no other option: with more of these increases in fuel prices,” announced on Monday, “we will propose to the government the readjustment of travel prices,” said Castigo Nhamane. 

Nhamane considered the public transport activity in Mozambique “unsustainable”, as the prices currently in force do not cover the costs of the operation.“We are in this activity because of our commitment to public service and because we cannot unilaterally decree increases, but several operators have been parking their cars, worsening the transport crisis, because fewer vehicles are circulating,” Castigo Nhamane said. The president of Fematro noted that the sector’s business people are also confronted with the rise in costs of other essential components for the viability of the activity, mainly parts and accessories, as well as recent readjustments in fuel prices. “To avoid the increase in the cost of passage, we have been proposing other mitigation measures to the government, but there has been no response,” he stressed.

On Monday, Mozambique’s Energy Regulatory Authority (Arene) announced an increase in fuel prices, with an increase in all petroleum products starting today. Petrol rises from 77.39 meticals (€1.13) to 83.30 meticais (€1.22) per litre, diesel rises from 70.97 meticais (€1.00) to 78.48 meticais (€1.15) per litre and domestic gas also scheduled to rise, from 80.49 meticais (€1.18) to 85.53 (€1.25) per kilo, according to the new table presented at a press conference by Arene.Light oil also goes up from 50.16 meticais (€0.73) to 77.48 meticais (€1.13) per litre.

According to Arene’s president, Paulo António da Graça, the Mozambican government sought to avoid a readjustment that would put pressure on citizens, temporarily dropping the tax on fuel to avoid a drastic rise. “The application of these measures allowed a reduction of the real increases, aiming to minimise the impact on the final consumer. Looking, for example, at diesel, which is a primordial product for our economy, an effort was made so that the adjustments were not made based on real prices, where we would have an increase of around 13 meticais [€0.19],” Paulo António da Graça said.