Coronavirus: Gambia slashes fuel prices

01 Mai 2020

Banjul, Gambia, May 1 (Infosplusgabon) – The Gambian government on Friday announced the slashing of the pump prices of fuel as “emergency relief” amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and its resultant lockdown in the tiny West African nation.

“The public is hereby informed that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, in line with The Gambia government’s policy of mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives and livelihood, has made the biggest ever reduction of the domestic retail prices of fuel in The Gambia,” the government announced in a statement.

Effective 30 April , the retail prices of fuel throughout The Gambia is as follows: Petrol – D40 Gambian dalasis per litre from D49.36 per litre; Diesel - D43 per litre from D50.04 per litre and Kerosene - D30 per litre from D41.35 per litre (US$1=D51.5)

According to the statement, the goodwill gesture is aimed at ameliorating the cost of fuel on transport operators in light of the presidential directive to limit the passenger capacity of commercial vehicles.

Since February 2020, the Gambian government has made a cumulative reduction of D12.62 (representing 25%), D11.94 (representing 23%), and D19.23 (representing 44%) on the prices of petrol, diesel, and kerosene, respectively.

Similarly, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology, also announced a D29.1 million Student Relief Package for Gambian students abroad.

D12.9 million has been allocated to benefit 836 non-government funded students while D16.2 million will go to the government-funded scholarship package, the statement noted.

“The relief package is designed to support the feeding and sustenance of both government-funded and non-government funded Gambian students around the world. The Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology will administer the package on behalf of the government,” the statement added.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/MPO/GABON2020

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