Latest Price Reviews – Fuel And Toll Gate Fees

Every week you have to anticipate price reviews in Zimbabwe in some field. That has become the norm in Zimbabwe and it comes as no surprise. Inflation keeps surging and the Zimbabwean dollar keeps tumbling. Lately, fuel price updates have been almost weekly. I did an article last week where I spelt out that fuel price updates lately are meaningless. They are just on paper and far removed from the prices being charged on the ground. Kindly go through it if you have not yet; you will realize some exciting insights. Regardless, that does not stop us from giving you detailed price reviews when they come. Today let us look at fuel prices and toll gate fees.

Latest Fuel Prices – Effective From 2 August 2022

The new prices are as follows:

The old prices were as follows:

Magnitude Of Change

This shows that the US dollar prices of fuel continue to go down with each review. This would have been something to applaud had these official ZERA prices adhered. For those of you who might not know, the fuel prices announced by ZERA are price caps. This means fuel stations have to charge prices equal to or less than the ZERA prices. Unfortunately, fuel stations are charging prices of their own making, exceeding the ZERA price caps. I had to reach out to ZERA asking why that is so and they encouraged that we should:

Kindly report the specific stations to Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority – ZERA on WhatsApp line +263 772 161 966

Latest Toll Gate Fees – Effective From 3 August 2022

The new fees are as follows:

The old fees were as follows:

(These were effective from 17 June 2022)

Magnitude Of Change

The US dollar fees have remained the same just like was the case with the previous review. Unsurprisingly, the ZWL$ prices are the ones that have changed as follows:

Life Would Be More Stable For Most If Incomes Were US Dollar-Based

The insistence that the Zimbabwean dollar is potent is a fallacy. There are several indicators of that of which these price or fee reviews are a perfect example. Consider the toll fees; someone who gets their income in US dollars has been enjoying stability. The US dollar fees for toll gates have been the same for quite a stretch. Plus they can simply go to the parallel market and buy Zimbabwean dollars. This will make toll gate fees even much cheaper for them. However, most Zimbabweans get their incomes in Zimbabwean dollars. To those people, toll gate fees continue to spike for them. The biggest irony is that those who determine these fees do not pay them; they are exempted. They will never truly feel or understand what the ordinary Zimbabwean goes through.

Those are the latest price reviews for this week. Do not forget to report fuel stations selling fuel using prices above the ZERA price caps. If we are to see definitive action being taken it requires you and me to take action. Otherwise, you will not get to enjoy the fuel price reductions (in US dollars) that we have been seeing. Other price increases are being caught in the ZWL$ prices of basic commodities. They are so mercurial that they can change almost daily. Such is the life in the day of an ordinary Zimbabwean these days.