‘Fuel prices have to rise to cover increase price of oil’

THE government has little choice but to increase fuel prices to cover the rise in the international price of oil, which has reached $31 a barrel, Commerce Minister George Lillikas has said.

Lillikas said the rise in the price of oil had left the government with a shortfall of £5 million.

“The only way for us to cover our losses is to increase the price of fuel to motorists,” Lillikas said. “If Parliament had accepted our suggestion to raise the price of fuel by 0.8 cents a litre two months ago, the increase we’ll have to implement now would not seem so shocking.

“We have a short amount of time before our accession to Europe to cover our losses of £5 million. The increase is larger than the one we previously suggested for this reason.”
Lillikas was unable to say when the increase in fuel prices would come about, though he was hopeful the price of oil might decrease. “If this happens, we will then lower the price of fuel for consumers.

“I would like to assure consumers that we will take measures to protect them. We are in the process of drawing up a bill that will be taken to the Cabinet shortly that states the Commerce Minister will have the right to judge whether prices are too high and unjustified,” said Lillikas.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.