Nairobi News

HustleNews

Hard times ahead as kerosene and diesel prices up by Sh5


Kenyans will dig deep in their pockets to pay more at the pump after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced new fuel prices in their monthly price review.

Diesel will from Thursday midnight cost Sh4.96 more per litre, petrol is up Sh1.64 a litre, while kerosene will retail Sh5.88 higher, setting the stage for inflationary pressure on consumers.

The price surges will see motorists in Nairobi pay Sh108.81 at the petrol pump, Sh103.60 for diesel while kerosene, relied upon by low income homes for lighting and powering cook stoves, will cost Sh84.10.

The new prices will be in place for the next one month until the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) reviews them again on July 14.

The ERC said that the average landed cost of imported super petrol rose by 2.8 per cent during the period that the cargo was sourced, diesel’s was up by 8.9 per cent while kerosene’s shot up nine per cent.

Prices of diesel, used to power commercial vehicles such as buses and tractors, have been on a steady climb, in what looks set to raise costs of transport, mechanised farming and industrial production.

Fuel costs have a direct bearing on inflation, being one of the items in the basket of goods and services whose pricing is tracked to measure the cost of living.

The government had propose July 1 as the period to introduce a stabilisation fund that will hedge consumer fuel prices against global changes due to a consistent rise in fuel prices.

This would have seen the energy regulator pass on the benefits of lower prices to motorists by half and increase product prices by a similar margin should crude prices rise sharply.