Mozambique: Transport fares to go up in Maputo

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Mozambique: Transport fares to go up in Maputo

4:26 CAT | 28 Jul 2022

File photo: Lusa

The Municipal Council of Maputo City approved an increase in passenger transport fares in the Mozambican capital on Wednesday, a source from the council told Lusa.

Under the new tariff, which comes into force in the next few days, the price of transport for distances of up to 10 kilometres will rise from 12 meticais (€0.18) to 15 meticais (€0.23). For journeys of over 10 kilometres, the cost will increase from 15 meticais to 19 meticais (€0.29).

The approval of the new rate comes after the stoppages on 4 July, when owners of buses and minibuses improvised as collective urban transport, pulled over their vehicles in protest at the rise in fuel prices, causing long queues and confusion in some areas of the Mozambican capital.

READ: Mozambique: Maputo hikes its ‘Chapa’ fares, by 7 meticais – Watch

The government has pledged to subsidise the carriers, but most of the minibus drivers, who ensure circulation in Mozambican urban centres, do not have a licence for their activity, one of the requirements for the award of subsidies by the authorities.

Mozambique’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ARENE announced on 1 July the third fuel price hike this year, with cooking gas up almost 20%.

The war in Ukraine and global inflationary pressures led to the new prices, which came into effect on Saturday in Mozambique.

Petrol rose from 83.30 meticais (€1.20) per litre to 86.97 meticais (€1.30) and diesel rose from 78.97 meticais (€1.18) to 87.97 meticais (€1.32) per litre.

In 2008 and 2010, the increase in the price of road transport, accompanied by a rise in the cost of essential goods and services, led to popular uprisings in some of the country’s main cities, resulting in clashes with the police and destruction in some places.

Source: Lusa