What Should Kenyans Expect With A Drop In Fuel Prices?

For the first time in a long time, the price of Diesel in Kenya is higher than that of Super Petrol following a review by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).

During the week, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) released their monthly statement on the Maximum Retail Prices in Kenya for the period 15^th April 2020 to 14^th May 2020.

What should Kenyans expect? According to Cytonn Investments, Kenyans should expect a decline in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other Fuels as well as a decline in the transport index, which carries a weighting of 9.7 percent in the total consumer price index (CPI), due to the decrease in petrol and diesel prices.

In the monthly review, super petrol prices have declined by 16.2 percent to 92.9 shillings per liter, from 110.9 shillings per liter previously.

Diesel prices have declined by 4.0 percent to 97.6 shillings per liter from 101.7 shillings per liter. Kerosene prices declined by 19.0 percent to 77.3 shillings per liter, from 95.5 shillings per liter previously,

The changes in prices have been attributed to the decline in the average landing cost of imported super petrol by 34.6 percent to USD 309.0 per ton in March 2020, from USD 472.6 per ton in February 2020.

Landing costs for diesel and kerosene also declined by 9.9 percent and 37.7 percent to USD 432.7 per ton and USD 262.4 per ton in March 2020, respectively, from USD 480.2 per ton and USD 421.2 per ton in February 2020, respectively.

A 36.6 percent decline in Free on Board (FOB) price of Murban Crude Oil lifted to USD 35.6 per barrel, from USD 56.1 per barrel in February 2020.

When fuel prices decrease, it is expected to have an effect in common products consumed by Kenyans to also drop in prices, and, in the prices, leading to a drop in the inflation rate. However, this is unlikely to happen given the fast-spreading Coronavirus across the country.

READ: A Litre of Super Petrol Drops By Ksh 18 For The First Time In Ages