ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI) has announced a decision to hike gasoline prices by nearly 20 percent with immediate effect.
In a press statement published Wednesday evening, the ministry said the price hike would see gasoline prices rise from 47.83 birrs (about 92 U.S. cents) to 57.05 birrs per liter.
The MoTRI statement also said the price of one liter of diesel is similarly hiked from 49.02 birrs to 59.90 birrs, an increase of around 22 percent.
The MoTRI said the latest fuel price hikes are intended to reflect the current international oil prices, which it said are still high despite some downward trends in recent days. The ministry didn't specify up to which date the latest fuel price hikes will stand.
According to the ministry, if the Ethiopian government was to set the prices of gasoline and diesel at the international price level, it would've set 66.22 birrs and 81.6 birrs, respectively.
The Ethiopian government's latest petroleum products price hikes came more than two months after the last price increases.
According to the latest data released by Ethiopia's Central Statistical Agency, the inflation rate in the country stood at 32.5 percent in August.
