New Macau requests gov’t intervention in soaring fuel prices

The Consumer Rights Protection Law should be used to stabilize prices of commercial fuels in Macau, Sulu Sou, vice director-general of the New Macau Association (ANM) said.

Sou pointed out that the price for 98-octane unleaded vehicle petrol in Macau has risen 14 months in a row, between October 2020 and November 2021. The cumulative increment rate has reached 23%.

In November last year, a 2% fall was recorded, followed by rises reoccurring until March this year. As of press time, according to the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), local prices for vehicle fuels ranged between MOP13.09 and MOP13.90 for a liter of regular 98-octane unleaded petrol.

 “The government seems to be the witness of a price hike only” doing nothing, he said.

Unlike in many other places, where prices of fuel can fluctuate a lot at different stations or under different brands, vehicle petrol in Macau is sold at almost the same price even under different brands.

Referring to the law, Sou pointed out that Article 20 stipulates the Consumer Council can investigate suspicious price fluctuations or unreasonable price hikes. The result of investigation should then be used as grounds for future policymaking.

In fact, when the law was being discussed in the parliament, Sou, a former lawmaker, joined with his then colleagues to request the government use the law to sort out the supply chain of fuels in Macau and calculate the price weight of each step in the supply chain.

He stressed that this request is not made to target a single industry, but to use the law to respond to problems in the long-term.