"Rising fuel prices is unavoidable" - Showkutally Soodhun

“It is impossible to maintain the current price because the situation has radically changed during the third quarter of the year. Today's figure for oil sale is $ 94.74 a barrel, which is a huge increase during few months. Thus, we find ourselves obliged to revise prices, four months after the last change. The people was very far of the problem because the government did not implement any increase during this interval, while the situation has deteriorated worldwide, the United States, Europe and even in Reunion”, he said. 

However, Showkutally Soodhun reassured that the government will not enforce unnecessary burdens on the people. “We will proceed thoroughly methodically analyze the situation. In this regard, we introduced the Petroleum Pricing Committee, which will be chaired by Director of the Statistics Office. This new institution, which replaces the Automatic Pricing Mechanism, will include accountants and private sector economists. It will be responsible for monitoring price developments overseas and advising the government on these changes. From there, we will work on compiling the figures before determining the new fuel prices,” he said.

Last October, the petrol price had increased by Rs 2.05 per liter, from 42.65 to 44.70. In contrast, the price of a liter of diesel and heavy oil remained unchanged, respectively at Rs 35.50 and Rs 15.30.