Own Correspondent
28th October 2022
The Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority informs has revealed that the retail pump prices for petrol, diesel and paraffin with immediate effect from 00:01hrs on the 27th October 2022.
Prices will drop for retail pump price of unleaded petrol 93 by 175 thebe per litre, unleaded petrol 95 will decrease by 183 thebe per litre; diesel 50ppm will decrease by 15 thebe per litre and illuminating paraffin will decrease by 70 thebe per litre
“The decrease is necessitated by the fall in oil prices which is mainly driven by three demand related factors which include; the rise in the US Dollar, hike in interest rates and fears of a global recession. Firstly, a stronger US Dollar tends to curtail the demand for oil as buyers or holders of other currencies must spend more to buy oil,” said Ms Nnosang Mhutsiwa, Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority(BERA).
She said, “During the month of September 2022, the US dollar was reported to have climbed to its highest level in twenty (20) years thus limiting the purchasing ability of non-dollar consumers. In addition, central banks around the world have been increasing interest rates to curb the surging inflation, which has led to fears that this could trigger economic slowdown.”
Finally, synchronous interest rate hikes imposed by the world’s most powerful central banks in recent months have triggered mounting concerns of a global recession.
According to officials the diesel price continued to fall by a smaller margin mainly due to a tighter diesel market as power generators and industrial users have now diverted to using diesel as an alternative to natural gas. This has increased the demand for diesel hence the slight decline in its price.