Kenya slashes retail prices for fuel for March-April

Kenya's energy industry regulator on Monday slashed petroleum pump prices for super petrol and diesel while it hiked kerosene prices by different price margins in the latest review for March 14-April 15.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said the reduction in pump prices is a result of decreases in the average landed costs of imported super petrol and diesel.

The industry regulator reduced prices for petrol reduces by 0.92 shillings to retail at 0.86 U.S. dollars per litre, diesel reduces by 2.18 shillings to retail at 0.66 dollars per litre while kerosene increases by 2.53 shillings to trade at 0.42 dollars per litre.

"This was a consequence of the average landed cost of imported super petrol decreasing by 4.61 percent from 496.74 U.S. dollars per tonne in January to 473.84 dollars per tonne in February," ERC Director-General Joseph Ng'ang'a said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The average landed cost of imported diesel during the period deceased by 9.43 percent from 343.49 dollars per tonne to 311.11 dollars per tonne.

"On the other hand, the average landed cost of imported kerosene increased by 9.82 percent from 321.37 dollars per tonne to 352.92 dollars per tonne," it said.

Fuel prices have a significant impact on inflation in the Kenyan economy which depends heavily on diesel for transport, power generation and agriculture, while kerosene is used in many households for lighting and cooking.

The ERC assured the public of its continued commitment to the observance of the principles of fair competition and the protection of the interests of both consumers and investors in the energy sector. Enditem