PS Ggoobi blames Covid-19 for skyrocketing fuel prices in Uganda

Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has assured Ugandans that the current skyrocketing fuel prices will very soon go back to normal.

Ggoobi says that the hiked prices have nothing to do with the economics of the country but they are caused by a temporary exogenous shock caused by administrative decisions to control the spread of covid-19 in Uganda and globally.

He however assured the country that the responsible parties are addressing the issue and soon prices will normalize.

“Fellow Ugandans, the current spike in fuel prices has nothing to do with economics. It was caused by a temporary exogenous shock caused by administrative decisions to control the spread of #COVID19, here & globally. The responsible parties are addressing them. Soon prices settle. Soon the fuel prices will settle back to market-clearing equilibrium,” Ggoobi tweeted over the weekend.

Last week, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development also urged Ugandans, not panic since fuel prices were to return to normal once the trucks lodged at the Kenya-Uganda border are cleared to start moving.

The Ministry said the fuel supply was normal with trucks being cleared as usual and drivers were allowed to present negative covid-19 results from Kenya until January 1, 2022, when a directive was issued requiring all truck drivers to undergo testing at Malaba and Busia entry points which resulted in a buildup of a queue of trucks as none were entering the country.

“Uganda’s Oil marketing companies have most of their trucks in the traffic between the Kenya loading points and the borders and once cleared in a few days, supply and prices will return to normal and there is no need for the public to panic,” the energy ministry assured the public in the statement.

As of now, fuel prices escalated abnormally; in that a litre of fuel is between Shs5,000 and Shs10,000.