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Tunisia approves fifth increase in fuel prices this year

November 24, 2022 at 11:16 am

A Tunisian man carries petrol cans and pours them into his car on the street amid Tunisia’s gasoline crisis at Khaznadar in Tunis, Tunisia on October 10,2022 [Yassine Mahjoub/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

The Tunisian government approved an increase in fuel prices yesterday, within the framework of the oil price adjustment programme. This is the fifth increase this year, and will take effect from today, Thursday, said the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Commerce and Export Development in a joint statement.

The ministries said that the increase is due to the disruptions in the global energy market as a result of shrinking supplies and the high cost of supplying petroleum materials since the beginning of the year. According to market expectations, this will take the average price of Brent crude to $100 a barrel by the end of the year from the current price of $89.

It was confirmed that the increase will affect unleaded petrol as well as sulphur-free, regular and premium diesel fuel. However, the prices of petroleum for lighting and household petroleum gas won’t change.

READ: Tunisia hikes cooking gas, fuel prices in bid to cut subsidies

The Tunisian government had said earlier that every one-dollar increase per barrel entails additional finance for the fuel, electricity and gas system, totalling around 140 million dinars ($43.8 million) per annum.

Since the beginning of this year, Tunisia has raised fuel prices on 1 February, 1 March, 14 April and mid-September.

The Tunisian economy is facing the worst crisis since the country’s independence in the 1950s, due to political instability since the 2011 revolution that overthrew former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and latterly the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. Calls have been made for the authorities to implement economic reforms.