The Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, said this Thursday that the price of gasoline in Mozambique could be higher, seven meticais above the current price.

Maleiane was speaking during a session in Parliament, and explained that the increase was not higher because it is necessary to "do things gradually.

The increase could have been higher, but it wasn't, because we need to "do things gradually until we are back on the formula and it works as we had agreed," between the government and the gasoline companies, Maleiane said

Currently the price of gasoline is 69 meticais per liter, and, according to the minister, without the government's efforts to ease the situation, it could be seven meticais more expensive, or 75 meticais per liter.

In this sense, the prices of petroleum derivatives in effect remain below what the calculation rules provide for, and mandated by law.

The calculation rule takes into account the price of a barrel of crude oil and the exchange rate of the metical, providing for updates whenever there are variations greater than three percent.

Maleiane recalled that no adjustments have been made to the prices of oil derivatives for a year, due to the damage caused by the pandemic. In the Government's view, it was fundamental "not to aggravate the cost of living".

However, "there was no way we could hold out, otherwise we would run the risk of running out of fuel and everything would be stopped. For this reason, he justified, the necessary precautions were taken "not to pass on to 100% what the formula says.

In Mozambique, all fuel is imported and represents an average bill of $850 million per year, Maleiane explained. Taking into account that the country exports 1.3 billion of traditional products (excluding minerals and metals) annually, the minister pointed out that "66% of [traditional] exports is to buy fuel."

Last week, the Energy Regulatory Authority (Arene) announced that prices of petroleum products in the country would rise by between 7% to 22%, reflecting the rising price of a barrel of crude oil.