Petrotrade has urged the government to liberalise the fuel industry a move that will allow fuel companies to import and sell fuel in foreign currency and end the fuel crippling shortages that have ravaged the country for close to 2 years now, the Daily News reports.
The matter came to light in parliament when Petrotrade’s acting MD appeared before the Energy Committee who said their fuel stocks were running dangerously low because of the forex shortages. Godfrey Ncube said:
It will be ideal, though painful and difficult for the government, to relax its control over the fuel industry and liberalise it so that fuel dealers operate on prices that make them remain viable in the business. Fuel companies should be allowed to source their own foreign currency, procure their own fuel and sell it at prices that they deem profitable enough for them to remain viable.
The government has however remained adamant that they are putting measures in place to ensure that fuel is available in the country. Energy Minister Fortune Chasi in parliament emphasised that the government was working on the issue:
… the government is working day in, day out to ensure that we put facilities in place for the importation of fuel and with the recently introduced foreign currency auction system we think that there will be greater capacity also to acquire foreign currency for purposes of fuel.
The government has also said it will start auditing service stations selling fuel in USD to check if they are using their proceeds to procure more fuel and not come back to the RBZ to get forex to secure more fuel.
More: Daily News