By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE recent increase in the prices of fuel will impact negatively on the country’s economy which is already faced with the effects of load-shedding.
Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) president Crispin Mphuka said the upward adjustment in fuel prices will affect the cost of production in the country.
Dr Mphuka said this in an interview yesterday.
On Monday, the pump prices of fuel were increased by an average of K1.00 per litre in response to the falling value of the Kwacha against major convertible currencies like the United States dollar.
The new price of petrol is now K9.87 from K8.74, while that of diesel has gone up to K8.59 from K7.59 with the cost of Kerosene going up by 72 ngwee to K6.12.
Dr Mphuka said the increase in fuel prices would affect the cost of production especially for the companies that have to rely on generators to mitigate the effects of load-shedding.
“It does not matter what percentage has been used to increase the fuel prices. We strongly feel that the upward adjustment in the pump price
will impact negatively on the cost of production.
“This is because companies are already using generators to mitigate the effects of load shedding,” Dr Mphuka said.
This is the second upwards adjustment of fuel prices within two months following another one which was effected in May 2015.
