Fuel Shortages A Result Of High International Prices: Energy Minister Claims

In an interview on the sidelines of the just ended 2019 Parliamentary pre-budget seminar in Bulawayo, Energy and Power Development Minister Joram Gumbo explained what caused the recent fuel shortage.

He said the international price of fuel increased the money that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) used to give fuel companies was no longer enough to buy the same quantity of fuel. Said Gumbo:

What has caused the shortage that you experienced is that internationally the price of fuel went up and after it went up, the money that Mangudya (RBZ Governor) used to give to oil companies to buy the fuel from Mabvuku and Msasa was now not enough to buy the same quantity of fuel. If we were using $20 million to buy 400 million litres now that $20 million is buying 250 million litres, so already you have created a shortage because you are not buying enough.

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