East African Business Week

KIGALI, RWANDA - Fuel prices in Rwanda have gone up for the third time in less than six months, increasing concerns that survival could become more costly thus pushing more Rwandans back into poverty.
Currently, more than a half of 10 million plus Rwandans are poor.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, a litre of petrol and diesel is currently selling at Rf1,060 at the filling stations.
This is an increase of 4.4% from the previous price of Rf1,015.
Although transport fares have not gone up in the country, some food
prices continue to go up and people living in urban areas especially the capital Kigali could be on the risk.
For instance, the prices of beans, fresh banana and irish potatoes have gone up.
Rwanda is also at the risk of high inflation if fuel prices continue to soar.
Rwanda is a landlocked country and depends mostly on imported fuel.
This means that fuel determines prices of other commodities and services in the small East African country.
The recent statistics of the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) show that annual inflation stood at 4% at the end of March and is expected to hit 6% end of June and 8% end of the year.
If inflation continues to rise, the national bank said it would raise the cost of its loans to the commercial banks and this means the commercial banks would also raise their lending rates.
This could contain inflation but it could somehow squeeze the small income earners and the poor as well as the economy.
The government says that the economy is expected to grow around 7%, which is slightly below the 7.4% registered in 2010.
Meanwhile, the rising cost of fuel does not affect government revenue directly from fuel receipts. This is because the government has a fixed tax on each litre of traded fuel.