AMMAN —
Energy experts are expecting yet another price hike on diesel and kerosene at
the end of the month, just as the winter season is kicking in, amid concerns
that the rise will hit hard Jordanians across the board.
اضافة اعلان
Those interviewed by
Jordan News renewed calls for a
reduction of the tax on petroleum products, arguing that it will contribute to
reducing the government’s energy bill, and that lowering prices will help
investors and individuals alike.
Energy expert Hashem Akel told
Jordan News that he
expects diesel prices to rise by 35 fils.
“Moreover, an increase in kerosene prices is also
expected, and afterward the government will be fixing the price till the
beginning of April 2023,” he added.
Akel said that the government fixed the prices of
fuel products at the beginning of this year, “and this resulted in a huge gap
between global and local prices of diesel”. Therefore, the only option for the
government now is to raise diesel prices to match global prices.
In order to reduce the cost of fuel products to help
citizens, the government has options, he stressed.
“The first option is to consider activating the
clause in the Petroleum Derivatives Prices Liberalization Law 2008 that talks
about price caps for oil derivatives, and allowing companies to sell under this
price,” he pointed out.
Such measure would “create a kind of competition in
the market, and this will benefit the consumer”, he said.
“The second thing the government could do is to
abandon the monthly pricing of oil derivatives, and let the market compete,”
Akel said, noting that the monthly pricing mechanism is not fair to citizens.
Energy expert
Amer Al-Shobaki told
Jordan News that
demands for lowering the tax imposed on fuel derivatives are not new, however,
“the government’s commitment to the conditions of the International Monetary
Fund for the economic reform plan makes these demands redundant”.
Moreover, “such demands will never be met”, he
added.
“It is lawmakers who can raise such demands and put
pressure on the government, even by threatening a vote of no confidence,” he
noted.
A source at the
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources told
Jordan News that the Petroleum Derivatives Pricing Committee determines
the fuel prices at the end of each month, based on calculating the global
average price of derivatives for the entire month.
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