Sudan’s transport tariffs soar following fuel price hike

Khartoum and Atbara witnessed limited protests on Tuesday and Wednesday in response to the 400% increase in the price of fuel announced by the government this week. People in Khartoum expressed their dissatisfaction with the 100 per cent increase in transportation tariffs in Khartoum after new fuel price increases.

On Tuesday, the Sudanese government announced the start of implementing new fuel prices, with an increase of more than 400 per cent over the previous price. Effective at 18:00 on Tuesday, a litre of service diesel cost SDG46*, while the price of a litre of commercial diesel rose to SDG106 and petrol to SDG120 a litre.

People in in Khartoum complained that the rickshaw tariffs became four times higher. The lowest rickshaw starts from SDG500.

They accused bus and rickshaw owners of exploiting the decisions to introduce further increases, calling on the authorities to monitor prices.

Minister of Energy and Mining Kheiry Abdelrahman said in a press conference in Khartoum that he considers the new prices as one of the steps in the economic treatment methods, and said that the consequences are in the interest of the country and the elimination of suffering of the people.

The minister said that the government’s economic policies are based on “the principle of fair competition that is beneficial to everyone, which stops Sudanese fuel being smuggled to neighbouring countries”. The new prices will also make it less attractive for racketeers and saboteurs from selling fuel, the minister asserts.

Price alignment

As reported by Radio Dabanga two weeks ago, Sudan’s authorities announced plans to align the domestic selling price of fuel with international price levels.

Energy and Mining Minister Kheiri Abdelrahman said in a statement that the fuel price will be calculated in the Sudanese Pound (SDG) equivalent of the rate in the parallel market.

The new fuel price depends on the value of the fuel globally, in addition to the logistical costs related to unloading, transportation, and distribution, the minister said.

He explained that, since August, the Ministry of Energy embarked on implementing the government’s decision to liberalise fuel.

* USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at the time of posting, according to the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the CBoS, however effective foreign exchange rates can vary widely on Sudan’s parallel market.

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