Fuel: Price increases ruining people’s holidays
Holidaymakers olidaymakers deplore the new rise in the price of petroleum products in the midst of the return from travel. This umpteenth increase in prices at gas stations, twice in succession during the month of August, announces a new inflationary spiral and pressure on the purchasing power of households a few days before the start of the school year.
Indeed, since the beginning of August, distributors of fuel (gasoline and diesel) have twice increased prices in gas stations. Thus, diesel has reached the price of 12.30 Dirhams on average (depending on the city) with slight variations between distribution companies. As for the price of unleaded gasoline, it fluctuates around 14.40 Dirhams (USD 1.44) in service stations. Obviously, the further one gets from the Casablanca-Rabat area, the more the prices increase hover around 13 Dirhams (USD 1.3) /per liter for diesel or even 15 Dirhams (USD 1.5) /per liter for unleaded gasoline . According to El Houssine El Yamani , Secretary General of the National Petroleum and Gas Union and member of the Democratic Confederation of Labor (CDT), « the analysis of the components of current market prices demonstrates that the tax and the profits of the actors represent 43%, that is to say 5.26 Dirhams per liter of diesel, including about 2 Dirhams (USD 0.2) in profits for distributors !» , which is excessive in a context marked by rising inflation and the deterioration of purchasing power. According to many analysts and experts, the successive increases in fuel prices have been « the main cause of inflation « and of the high prices of consumer goods over the past two years, hence the urgency for the Government to put in place innovative and efficient mechanisms to ease the pressure on households and reduce as much as possible the high cost of petroleum products.
In the opinion of the National Union of Oil and Gas, the current levels of prices in petrol stations require an intervention of the Government with mechanisms and devices supposed to contain the surge in prices. Among the measures likely to reduce the pressure, there is, according to the same union source, the option “to cap profits made by oil companies” . Moreover, the reduction or even the abolition of certain taxes, like many countries, remains an appropriate solution. The Syndicat du pétrole et du gaz (Petroleum and Gas Workers Union), affiliated to the CDT, reiterates, once again, the option of relaunching the oil refining activity at the Samir plant, which will not only reduce the cost price and prices at the pump but also substantially increase the volumes of national stocks. Another proposal is “putting an end to the tacit agreements on fuel prices while activating the enforcement role of the Competition Council” . Moreover, the CDT union calls for anticipation via the establishment of « mechanisms to support fuel prices in the event of any further increases, and which would exceed the capacity of motorists and consumers, in particular transportation professionals» .
Amin RBOUB
