Fuel tax increases to help pay for road maintenance

The National Business

AN increase in fuel tax aims is to have the commuting public support road maintenance work by the Government, says Deputy Prime Minster and Treasurer Charles Abel.
He said this while noting how the overall tariff increases were “quite minimal”.
“Of the changes we have made, 70 per cent of these are only 5 per cent increases,” Abel said.
“The fuel excise is less than 4 per cent and is a one-off change.
“The excise rate on diesel is not going to be brought right up to equal the excise on petrol.
“It is only a one-off change that brings it up to catch up with petrol, so that road users contribute a bit more towards the maintence and the upkeep of the roads.”
He made mention of the recent update from the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) on diesel price that has it up by 7toea.
“This amount of K3 (per litre) for diesel is in Port Moresby,” Abel said.
“In other centres it’s about K3.50 and that has been due to the effect of the tariff.”
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission issued a statement on Jan 5 describing how the fuel prices were set on Jan 8.
“Users will note that the increase in the retail price of diesel is attributed to the increase in the excise duty, which increased from 10toea to 23toea per litre consistent with the Government’s 2018 Budget tax measure,” the commission said in a statement.
“According to the ICCC’s calculations, retail fuel prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene will increase throughout Papua New Guinea.
“The prices are attributed to the increases in the import price parity this month.
“The increases in the IPP are attributed to the increases in the Mean of Plats Singapore during the month of December 2017.”
According to the ICCC, January in Port Moresby will see:

  • Petrol prices increase by 3.63toea per litre;
  • diesel ncrease by 22.64toea per litre; and,
  • Kerosene prices will increase by 6.53toea per litre.