Petrol now costs Rs 61.30 per litre instead of Rs 55.75. Diesel is going up from Rs 41 to Rs 45.10. While critics have been coming out ever since, the Prime Minister says the 10% hike is in line with the international context and was inevitable.
A 37% increase for everyone
Pravind Jugnauth explained: “This global increase is affecting our economy. There have been situations where we have come up with temporary solutions to relieve the consumer, but continuing to do so will cause a big deficit. There was no choice but to follow the international context. The price of petrol went from $704 to $964 per metric ton, an increase of 37% and diesel from $83 to $114 per barrel, also an increase of 37% per barrel.” The Prime Minister spoke out against his critics on Monday 28th February at the inauguration of the State Trading Corporation’s new warehouse at the Port in Mer Rouge named after Kader Bhayat. This is a tribute to the late “Lawyer, Iron Spear of the MMM and Minister of Commerce in 1983 under the government of Sir Aneerood Jugnauth“, he recalled.
The Prime Minister recalled that the STC was set up in 1982 to be the trading arm of the Government and was entrusted with the responsibility of sourcing and importing selected essential commodities, namely, all petroleum products, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, wheat flour, Basmati and Non-Basmati Rice. He lauded the great contribution of late Mr Kader Bayat as regards the setting up of the STC in order to regulate prices of commodities and relieve the population through the delivery of quality strategic products at affordable prices.
The inauguration coincided with the 40th anniversary of the STC. The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo; the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo; the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Mr Soodesh Satkam Callichurn; the Chairperson of the STC, Dr Ramchandra Bheenick; and other personalities were present at the ceremony.
Pursuing, the PM made a comparison of fuel prices in Mauritius with neighbouring and reference countries where he made it clear that we are practicing lower prices. According to the conversion made by the PMO, a litre of petrol in France costs Rs 88.06, in Reunion Island Rs 88.82, in Seychelles Rs 72.04 and Rs 87.36 in Singapore. For diesel, a litre in France costs Rs 85.34, Rs 65 in Reunion Island, Rs 74.50 in the Seychelles and Rs 74.23 in Singapore. “We are dictated by the international context. We are not going to paralyse the activities of the STC,” the PM said on the subject of the fuel price hike.
The PM seized the opportunity to recall the recent partnership with the private companies, Indian Oil, Vivo Energy, Total Mauritius, Engen Mauritius and the State Trading Corporation. “With the five petroleum storage terminals for the country, our capacity utilization has increased from a few days to 30 days for petrol and 17 days for diesel.”
Demagogues or Ignorant
“Those, who are saying that the price should not have been increased or that it should have been lowered, are either demagogues or ignorant. They do not lack in nerve, it should be recalled that these are the same people who caused losses of up to Rs 5 billion by playing with the hedging of the STC in 2008 by their irresponsible management. They had imposed a tax of Rs 3 on the litre of petrol and diesel”, said Pravind Jugnauth.
STC launched an international tender for the supply of some 50,000 metric tons of cement
For his part, Minister Callichurn indicated that the warehouse was built so as to provide the right conditions for storage of products such as rice and flour as well as to ensure that the products brought to the population comply with appropriate sanitary protocols.
In the same vein, the Minister also informed that the STC launched an international tender for the supply of some 50,000 metric tons of cement for the period from May to September 2022, and another international tender for a supply of 200 metric tons of cooking oil for the period from April to June 2022.
As for Mr Bheenick, he highlighted that the STC was a strong organisation which had a major role to play in helping the country adapt to the new normal in this COVID-19 pandemic era. “The STC,” he underlined, “is moving towards more competitive procedures for the purchase of more environmentally friendly petroleum products, in particular now that the storage of imported products by the STC has greatly improved.”
