HARARE – Zimbabwe’s fuel prices will go up by as much as 152 percent on Wednesday, the energy regulator said, after the government removed a fixed exchange rate in place since March.
The last time the country saw a similar steep rise in fuel prices, in January 2019, violent protests broke out, leaving as many as 17 people dead after a crackdown by the security forces.
Zimbabwe is already going through its worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by high inflation, food and medical shortages.
The price of petrol will go up to 71.62 Zimbabwe dollars or US$1.28 per litre, from 28.96 Zimbabwe dollars previously, the regulator announced on Tuesday night.
The diesel price will now be Z$62.77 from Z$24.93.
Zimbabwe began weekly foreign currency auctions on Tuesday in a bid to increase efficiency in the allocation of scarce U.S. dollars in the economy, ending a fixed exchange rate of Z$25 to the United States dollar, which had been in place since March 30.
The average exchange rate closed at Z$57.3582 to one US dollar after the first auction.
