Zimbabwe raises petrol prices by 33 percent as shortages persist

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory (ZERA) authority on Thursday announced a 33 percent increase in the price of petrol.

Diesel prices are also going up by 15.8 percent effective Friday, June 5, ZERA said in a statement.

Motorists will now pay Z$28.96 on a litre of petrol, up from Z$21.77.

Diesel has gone up by Z$3.41 to Z$24.93.

ZERA did not say what was driving up the cost.

Zimbabweans are spending many hours in fuel queues, as a scarcity of foreign currency continues to hamper the country’s ability to pay for fuel imports.

A massive loss of value in the local currency has seen many service stations applying to ZERA to charge in forex. By contrast, service stations selling in forex have abundant fuel, with no queues.

The government has been urged by opposition parties to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar and dollarise again, a policy which was abandoned last year after a decade.