Africa-Press – Mozambique. The president of the Mozambican Federation of Road Transport Associations (FEMATRO) on Monday judged an increase in the price of public transport “irreversible”, stressing that the increase in fuel prices would make the activity “unsustainable”.
“A price adjustment in transport is irreversible. The question is no longer whether there will be a price update, the question is to know when and, for us, it should be this week,” Castigo Nhamane said.
FEMATRO has delivered a proposal to increase prices and is waiting for the government to respond this week, he added.
“I cannot disclose the price amounts contained in our proposal, but the government already knows,” he declared.
Nhamane maintained that the business was unsustainable given the latest rise in fuel prices, and noted that the sector had not updated prices for five years.
Two weeks ago, Mozambique’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ARENE) announced rises in oil product prices in the country of between 7% and 22%, reflecting the rise in the price of a barrel of crude.
Mozambique’s Economy and Finance Minister, Adriano Maleiane, said last week in parliament that the increase in the price of oil products was still below what the price mechanism foresaw.
The price of gasoline “could be 75 [meticais per litre]” rather than 69 [meticais], if the law were strictly applied, he said.
The increase wasn’t any bigger because it was necessary “to do things gradually until we are back on formula”, as agreed between the government and petrol companies, Minister Maleiane said.
The calculation rule takes into account the price of a barrel of crude and the exchange rate of the metical, the Mozambican currency, providing for updates whenever there are variations greater than 3%.
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