Government has acknowledged that high fuel prices will negatively affect the business sector.
Commerce, trade and industry Minister Felix Mutati however says Government cannot afford to subsidize fuel at the current economic rate.
Mr Mutati says much as Government realizes that subsidy is the only option it has to weigh the pros and cons of such a commitment.
He says that subsidies especially those related to fuel are expensive and that that cushioning the cost of fuel would mean holding the development of infrastructure such as the building of schools, roads and hospitals in the country.
He has since urged the business community to bear the costs of Government while the prices of fuel are still high on the world market.
The energy regulation board has increased the fuel pump prices by over 13 percent citing the increase in fuel prices on the international market.
QFM
Men who say it as it is, not those lies the BoZ guy was busy feeding us.
so mr minister what is needed to be done and when will it be done
So Mr. Mutati you cannot find a solution to this fuel issue? I suggest you go to other countries in the region and learn how they do it. Why should Zambia have the most expensive fuel in the region? You can even ask Daniel Munkombwe to walk to Zimbabwe and find out why fuel there is cheaper than our.
It is all politics by numbers !
RDA note there is a huge pot hole behind State House along Los Angeles road. Someone will soon fly into the wall fence. What are you waiting for?
The Energy problem in Zambia has lot to do with the tax structure. You have a situation in which there is one favoured sector of the economy. This is the mining sector. The mines do not pay taxes commensurate with their output. The mines earned close to $3bn in 2009 but only paid $77mn in taxes. The govt annual budget is about $3bn. The implication is that other tax payers must fork out $2.923bn in taxes. Thus the Zambian govt has identified the fuel sector and workers as the easiest and most convienient from which to get taxes. Thus whereas in neighbouring countries there is no duty on imported petroleum products because it is critical for the economy, the Zambian govt charges 25% duty on imported crude oil and 35% on refined petroleum products.
There are more litres of beer than fuel being consumed per day than fuel. Drinking is optional, they should have increased cost of booze first instead of fuel.
Mr.Mutati is simply admitting that he and his coleagues are STUPID,they cant read between the lines and they have no vision.They are in Office to kill Zambians while foreigners get richer & powerful.
ohhhh puleeeese. Tell us something we dont know:-@
It is virtually impossible for anyone to fully appreciate the extent of the impact of fuel price increases on the entire economy in the absence of an input-output table. The Zambian economy is on auto-pilot, so to speak – there is no input-output table to guide informed policy interventions when decisions are made in one sector or another. There is need for a thorough analysis on how the entire economy will behave when prices in one (e.g. energy) are increased. This empty talk by some leaders should be left to the man on the street.
How much appreciation do we show the people who help us serve customers efficiently and effectively: the staff? What percentage of our profits do we spend on our staff? How do we treat our maids and domestic servants without whose help we would be overly stressed? At a Novena at St. Ignatius a few years ago, Fr. Chungu in his homily bemoaned how certain households will feed their domestic staff on nothing but relish that is spelt with letter ‘k’ such as kalembula, katapa, kachesha, kanunkanunka (local vegetables) etc while they themselves eat nothing but relish that is spelt with letter ‘i’ such as ‘inkoko’ (chicken), ‘inama’ (beef), ‘isabi’ (fish) etc.
Could it be that the government has maintained to tight a grip on the energy industry? You know, we can actually have the market decide the pricing of gas instead of government flexing its muscle every time. Our mixed economy is dominated by government. And it is not helping.
As regards the scarcity of funds, Felix, here is where you can find the money: ZNBC, ToZ, ZDM, UNZA, Government Printers. Let go of them.
We dont own crude oil. Prices of crude oil are rising where we buy. So How do you expect fuel prices in Zambia to remain static. This is ignorance and foolishness. here in the UK prices are going up every day, so why should they remain the same in Zambia?
Further, ZMK depreciated recently, meaning it will cost more to buy dollars for the next crude oil cargo for Indeni. So how can any sane mind expect prices to remain the same in Zambia, unless the govt subsidizes them. But subsidies are not the best way to spend money, especially if that money can be used to build schools and hospitals.
#11 Bugsy. Spot on.
GRZ should come out of this price fixing exercise altogether. They should allow market forces to determine fuel prices. As a nation, due to lack of political will, we are wasting so much money on fuel subsidies. As Mutati said, they are very expensive. Somebody should tell the nation how much we spent on fuel subsidies, then ask whether we are being wise.