The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI) has decided to immediately increase gasoline prices by about 20%.
The ministry announced the price increase in a press release on Wednesday night. The increase will bring gasoline prices from 47.83 birrs (about 92 cents) to 57.05 birrs per litre.
The price of one litre of diesel has also increased, from 49.02 to 59.90 birr, a 22 percent increase, according to the MoTRI statement.
The MoTRI claimed that notwithstanding some recent downward trends, the most recent increases in fuel prices are designed to reflect the present, high worldwide oil costs. The new fuel price increases will be in effect until a date that was not specified by the government.
According to the ministry, the price of gasoline and diesel would have been set at 66.22 and 81.6 birrs, respectively, if the Ethiopian government had to set them at the international price level.
More than two months have passed between the last price rises before the Ethiopian government’s most recent price increases for petroleum products.
The latest statistics provided by Ethiopia‘s Central Statistical Agency show that the country’s inflation rate was 32.5% in August.