Jayen Chellum has issued an ultimatum to the government following the increase in fuel prices. The Mauritius Consumers’ Association is giving the government a week to review the new prices, which are considered as exaggerated. If the government fails to do so, the members will proceed with union action .
During his press conference on 30 December, the secretary general of the association revealed that he has already sent a letter to Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, the Ministry of Commerce and Rajiv Servansing, the director of the State Trading Corporation. He denounces that this increase is artificial and that the government seems to be encouraging inflation. “The price of petrol and diesel is artificially high in Mauritius because there is a series of taxes in force on fuel. It is important to know that in June before the budget, Rs 2 billion were coming out of the STC into the government coffers. And since then, the exchange rate has also been changed. The more expensive a product is, the more it benefits the government’s coffers through VAT and taxes. The government has no interest in keeping prices low, especially for fuel. Is the government pushing up inflation?”
Thus, ACIM expects the government to review these prices downwards. A litre of petrol costs Rs 55.75, or 9.96% more and diesel at Rs 41, or 9.92% more. Consumers are unanimous that this increase will have a big impact on everything.
