Gasoline no longer subsidized in Angola

Oil tankers pass along the road towards the capital Luanda, Angola

The sale of gasoline in Angola is now based on a free pricing system, putting an end to state subsidies, under the terms of a decree in which the Ministry of Finance announced increases of up to 29 percent in fuel prices, Angolan news agency Angop reported.
As a result Angola’s state oil company Sonangol set the price per liter of gasoline at 115 kwanzas as of 11 pm last Thursday against the 90 kwanzas previously charged.
This increase in fuel prices, the third since last September as part of a set of economic measures put in place by the government to offset the drop in oil prices on the international market, increased the price of diesel per liter by 25 percent from60 to 75 kwanzas, with the state subsidizing 21.06 percent of the price.
The price of domestic gas increased from 45 to 55 kwanzas, or 22 percent, with the State continuing to subsidize 67.15 percent of the cost and a liter of kerosene increased by 29 percent (from 35 to 45 kwanzas), and the state continues to subsidize 44.41 percent of the price.
In a statement, the Ministry of Finance explained the adjustments to fuel prices based on its strategy to improve the quality of public expenditure and noted that this adjustment would allow the government to secure enough of a margin to ensure the sustainability of fiscal policy and funding for the objectives set out in the National Development Plan for 2013-2017.
The announcement said that, since October 2014, the fuel price adjustment measures had already produced savings of 110 billion kwanzas, allowing the government better to cover public expenditure in a climate of reduced oil revenues. MDT/Macauhub