NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 17 – National Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani has refuted claims that the government has not taken pro-active steps to address the rising cost of fuel in the country.
He told the Senate Committee on Budget and Finance that the price of super petrol would have been selling at between Sh155 and Sh160 had it not been for the subsidies that the government put in place through the fuel levy fund.
“We are a sensitive government, if we would have allowed the fuel price to go with the market price, Super petrol would have been trailing at Sh160 per litre. If you look even at the neighbourhood most of the vehicles are fueling on the Kenyan side,” Yatani stated.
Motorists and PSV operators have called on the Government to intervene after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) increased the pump prices by Sh5 for the next one month meaning that a litre of super petrol will now cost Sh134.72 and Diesel will retail at Sh115.60.
Crude oil prices have been going up over the months, initially due to demand as economies shook off Covid-19 but the situation worsened starting February following the security status in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia is the world’s second-largest exporter of oil.
