Zambia’s monthly fuel pump price adjustments are creating uncertainties for planning in businesses and households and the country is now considering moving away from them to longer pricing periods of two or three months.
The status quo was making planning difficult and complicated the economy’s management and therefore an adjustment in the pricing model would help businesses plan better instead of constantly having to adjust to changes in fuel prices.
President Hakainde Hichilema made the observations when he met ADNOC Global Trading chief executive officer Ahmed Bin Thalith and his delegation in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday.
ADNOC is a trading arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s leading energy companies.
According to a post he made on his Facebook page, the Government was keen to work with partners such as ADNOC on long-term supply arrangements that brought greater stability to fuel prices.
“We discussed how best to stabilise fuel prices and move away from monthly price adjustments,” he said.
President Hichilema said that while some of the factors that drove fuel prices such as global conflicts that disrupted international oil supply chains could not be controlled, the country’s pricing mechanism could be made more predictable and business-friendly.
Mr Bin Thalith said that his company was looking beyond fuel supply by investing in Zambia’s petroleum infrastructure and helping position the country as a regional fuel hub.
