Motorists will pay Ksh 106.55 for a litre of super petrol, up from Ksh 105.43 for the period between October 3 to 14th, after the Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) recalculated pump prices for October in line with changes in Excise Duty.
The recalculations also hiked the price of kerosene and diesel by KSh 0.58, pushing the price per litre of Kerosene to Ksh 83.73 and that of Diesel to Ksh 95.09.
EPRA’s Acting Director-General James Kilozo says the price adjustments follow an upward revision of excise duty to the average inflation rate of 4.94% in the financial year 2019/2020.
“Pursuant to Legal Notice No. 194, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has adjusted the Excise Duty on Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene after taking into account the average inflation rate of 4.94% for the financial year 2019/2020,” says Kilonzo in a press release.
Earlier, EPRA cut the cost of Kerosene and Diesel by Ksh 0.50 and Ksh 0.12 respectively, following the marginal decline in the cost of fuel imports for Kerosene and Diesel. However, pump prices for a litre of petrol rose by Ksh 2.65% to Ksh 105.43 in tandem with higher landed cost of imported super petrol.
The increase in the cost of fuel, especially super petrol adds a load to the already high cost of living driven by the sharp rise in the fuel import bill in the past three months.
Higher Excise Duty to hit Alcohol Cigarette Prices
The 5% upward revision in Excise duty which took effect on October 1 will also hit other products, mainly affecting the liquor and cigarette business, among 29 other products.
The move, which aimed at safeguarding government revenues from taxes, has received criticism from beer distributors in the country.
Capital Business quotes Rwathia Distributors Limited MD Maina Gikonyo, who notes that the taxman’s move is ill-timed considering the ongoing pandemic.
“Increasing Excise Duty at this point is also likely to erode the intentions and the gains made with the other measures the government instituted to cushion Kenyans against the economic vagaries brought about by the pandemic”, says the MD.
Similarly, manufacturers earlier said say that the excise duty from annual inflation adjustments will fuel inflation and breed uncertainty following the annual shifts of inflation.
Revenues from Excise Duty for the between June 2019 and June 2020 fell by 6.4% as COVID-19 cut the production of excisable goods.
