Fuel prices in Kenya have soared to a record high after the
new government removed the country’s petrol subsidy.
On Wednesday, the price of petrol increased by 20.18
shillings to 179 KES (about $1.49) per litre while diesel and kerosene prices
jumped by 20 and 25 shillings, respectively, according to Kenya’s Energy and
Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
The regulator said it had removed the subsidy on petrol but
retained it on diesel and kerosene to cushion consumers from the high prices.
It added that petrol rose by 13 percent, diesel was up 18
percent and kerosene increased by 16 percent from a month earlier — until
October 14 — when the government plans to announce a new price regime.
The development comes after the newly-inaugurated President
William Ruto said his administration would do away with food and fuel
subsidies.
He said the new administration would reduce food production
costs and increase output by subsidising inputs such as fertiliser and quality
seeds.
“In addition to being very costly, consumption subsidy
interventions are prone to abuse, they distort markets and create uncertainty,
including artificial shortages of the very products being subsidised,” Ruto had
said.
In Kenya, inflation soared to 8.5 percent in August — the
highest level since September 2021.
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