Relief for Kenyans as fuel prices drop in latest Epra review
The energy regulator has marginally reduced fuel prices in a move that has seen the partial fuel subsidy retained on diesel and kerosene.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) on Friday reduced the prices of petrol and kerosene by Sh1 and diesel by Sh2 per litre.
This will see petrol retail at Sh178.3, Sh163 for diesel and Sh146.94 for kerosene per litre in Nairobi
In Mombasa, motorists will pay Sh175.98 for petrol, Sh160.76 for diesel and Sh144.69 for kerosene while in Eldoret they will pay Sh178.5, Sh163.72 and Sh147.67 for the three products respectively.
"Taking into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products and in line with government policy, the changes in the maximum allowed petroleum pump prices in Nairobi are as follows: super petrol, diesel and kerosene decrease by Sh1, Sh2 and Sh1 per litre respectively," said Epra Director-General Daniel Kiptoo in a statement.
The marginal drop comes despite a steeper drop in the cost of imported fuel products.
This, in a bid to prevent a steeper cut in fuel prices that could have forced the government to fork additional billions of shillings to compensate oil marketing companies.
The landed cost of petrol dropped by 10.6 per cent per cubic-metre between August and September which is the period the currently priced product was imported.
Meanwhile, the landed cost of diesel fell by 6.87 per cent while that of kerosene dropped by 1.82 per cent.
Partial subsidy
The government has maintained the partial subsidy on diesel and kerosene after withdrawing the subsidy on petrol last month.
"A subsidy of Sh18.15 per litre and Sh27.47 per litre has been maintained for diesel and kerosene respectively in order to cushion consumers from the otherwise high prices. The government will utilise the Petroleum Development Levy to compensate oil marketing companies for the difference in cost," said Mr Kiptoo.
The new prices fail to give relief to consumers who are currently battling a five-year high increase in the cost of living due to high costs of fuel, electricity, food and loans.
Inflation hit a 63-month high in September even as maize flour prices shot up8.4 per cent between August and September, power prices rose 20.9 per cent while fuel prices rose by 17.7 per cent.
Consumers are also paying more for electricity after the energy regulator raised the fuel component of electricity for the second month in a row raising power prices.
Epra has raised the fuel cost charge (FCC) by 4.41 per cent this month, a month after it raised it by 46.6 per cent due to high fuel costs.
It has increased the FCC to Sh7.09 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) up from Sh6.79 last month.
The cost of loans has also gone with, with data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) showing the cost of loans from commercial banks hit 12.38 per cent in August which is the highest rate since November 2019. BY DAILY NATION



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