ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (APA)

The Ethiopian authorities on Friday evening announced the increase of fuel prices by lifting subsidies, despite a decline of the price of oil in the international market.

The new tariff on fuel will be implemented on Saturday, which is also expected to lead to a rise in transport fares and the prices of other commodities, including food prices.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement issued here Friday that the government has decided to increase the oil price to avoid any subsidy on oil.

The ministry indicated that the government used to subsidize oil by investing hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

“This new tariff was introduced to lift the government’s subsidy on oil, which has been made during the past several years. Now, the government has decided to subsidize food items instead of oil,” the statement said.

Accordingly, the statement said, the government increased the price of benzene from 9 birr and 65 cents to 10 Birr and 15 cents, which makes the price to exceed one US dollar for the first time.