Zimbabwe's economy has been dealt a further blow with massive increases in fuel prices. Energy Minister Amos Midzi said the price of regular petrol would be raised by 209% and diesel by 68%. Regular petrol will cost 36p a litre from 11p a litre, the state broadcaster reported. "It will take a while for the impact of the increases to be felt," Mr Midzi said. At the same time the state Central Statistical Office announced that the annual inflation rate, calculated in March, rose to a record 228%. It increased by 7.1% on the February rate. Mr Midzi said that he expects "good management and efficiency" from the state's fuel procurement monopoly, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) to bring an improvement in the fuel supply situation.
"Duh! Yeah, boss. An' we're gonna start any time now..."
He added the diesel price increase was kept lower to cushion commuters, industry, farmers and other businesses. "The economic value of each product was examined in order to determine the appropriate pump price," he said. The Zimbabwe government is making efforts to revive a deal with the Libyan oil company, Tamoil, to supply gasoline to Zimbabwe.
But the Libyans are being unreasonable. They expect Zim-Bob-We to pay for it... |