Haiti - Economy : Fuel no shortage, but price increase envisaged
Since Wednesday, many gas stations in the capital and province lack of fuel. A difficult situation for motorists at the beginning of the new year, who fear a new shortage of fuels while on the informal market in the North, the gallon of gasoline is already trading around 400 gourdes...
Reacting to this situation, Jude Alix Patrick Salomon, the Minister of Economy said Wednesday that there is no shortage, although he acknowledges that there can sometimes be problems of fuel availability from one station to another that do not have the same storage capacity. He announced the arrival of a tanker Thursday night and given the time of landing of fuel, he believes that the fuel should be in the gas stations by Sunday.
However, David Turnier, President of the National Association of Petroleum Distributors (Anadipp) confirms a scarcity of fuel since the beginning of the year due to a delay of hydrocarbon tanker. A delay that could be related to a late ordering date of the Office of Monetization of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD)...
Moreover, while the barrel of crude has crossed the threshold of 60 US dollars on the world market, the Minister Salomon, who refuses to use the word "increase" said on the air of a radio of the capital that the Government was considering a new "price adjustment" of petroleum products according to the evolution of the costs on the world market as provided for in the law, stressing that this is the wisest decision, as public finances are currently in deficit of severals billions of gourdes...
However, aware of the precarious situation of the majority of the population, the Minister Salomon affirmed that before the application of these adjustments the Government thought about accompanying measures for the poorest people.
