Diesel Prices Fall The Most in 13 Months By 10.04 Shillings a Litre

Motorists and users of other diesel-powered engines have everything to smile for the next 30 days after the Energy and Regulatory Commission (ERC) reduced the price of diesel by more than 10 shillings on every litre.

Motorists in Nairobi will pay 102.24 shillings for a litre of diesel, a drop by 10.04 shillings from what they have been paying in the last one month.

A litre of petrol in Nairobi will now retail at 104.21 shillings from 113.54 shillings, a 9.33 shilling drop while a litre of kerosene has gone down by 3.52 shillings to retail at 101.70 shillings a litre.

ERC has attributed the on the continuous lowering of prices of crude oil across international markets during the review period. The drop has also been aided by the continued resilience of the Kenyan shilling against the dollar.

Fuel prices in Kenya skyrocketed following the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) of 8 percent on all petroleum products. The current price has now gone back to where it was before the introduction of the VAT.

Passengers might, however, not have something to smile about because it is not clear whether public service vehicle (PSV) owners will pass the same reduction on to their customers.

During the review period, the landed cost of super petrol dropped by 14.9 percent from 964.18 US dollars per ton in November 2018 to 590.92 US dollars per ton in December 2018.

The landed cost of diesel dropped by 14.7 percent from 722.17 US dollars per ton in November 2018 to 615.97 US dollars per ton in December 2018.

The fall of fuel prices, especially diesel is expected to ease the inflation for the month of January by lowering of basic commodity prices given that most power is generated from diesel-powered generators.