Life is about to become even more difficult for Kenyans after global oil prices increased for a consecutive two-week increase.
According to the recent monetary and financial developments report, global oil prices have increased owing to growing international market demand.
The Murban oil prices were projected at USD79.41 per barrel. However, those prices have shot up to USD84.78 per barrel as of June 20.
Notably, these increases are being witnessed at a time when President William Ruto has proposed to review the Road Maintenance Levy (RML) which is charged on every litre of fuel sold to Kenyans.
As proposed in the amendments of the Finance Bill 2024, the RML will be increased from the current Ksh18 to Ksh25.
Therefore, should the MPs adopt the proposals, the current prices of Super Petrol and Diesel will each increase by Ksh7.
On the other hand, given that oil marketers will be getting the fuel at a higher cost from the global market, the additional costs will be passed down to Kenyans. Therefore, the overall increase in costs could be more than Ksh7.
As detailed in the report, the RML is proposed for an increment to finance various road maintenance projects. All the money collected from the RML is usually used to maintain roads across the country.
The Finance Committee highlighted that the various road departments were still depending on the exchequer, a move that was causing a strain on the budget.
