DAR ES SALAAM, Jan.10 (Chinese media) -- Retail prices at most filling stations in Dar es Salaam have come down, some by as much as 16 percent as of Friday, thanks to the efforts by the government of Tanzania.
Starting on Monday this week, the Tanzania Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority began issuing indicative pricing for petrol, diesel and kerosene sold at filling stations in the country in an attempt to bring down prices.
The government has kept blacklisting those filling stations that refused to lower their pump prices. The move is aimed at forcing down retail prices of imported petrochemical products which, despite a price plummet on international markets, were kept high in Tanzania only to force up the country's inflation from single to double digits.
Fuels carry a 10-percent weight in the basket of commodities which the country uses to calculate inflation. It affects such sectors as transport, manufacture and energy in the country as well.
The government of Tanzania has planned to bring down the country's inflation to 7 percent by June last year but the annual inflation instead rose to double digits in September and shot further up to 12.3 percent in November.
The Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority has warned that any petroleum dealers in the country selling their products above the indicative pricing would get punished and the punitive measures for an offense would include a fine of no less than 3 million Tanzanian shillings (3,000 U.S. dollars) and the revoke of fuel retail licenses.
But the government has allowed petroleum dealers to compete with one another so long as they do not exceed by 7.5 percent of the indicative pricing computed by the regulatory authority.
Tanzania relies solely on imported petrochemical products. Though international prices have been dropping down, from above 140 dollars to below 40 dollars a barrel, petroleum dealers in Tanzania had not been following suit accordingly only to get the government to intervene.
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