Fuel surcharge 'lower than it should be'

The fuel surcharge is five per cent lower than it should be, according to Enemalta, due to the success of its oil-buying policies.

The corporation said it was in a position to contain the surcharge at 63.5 per cent since policies, suggested by the Fuel Procurement Advisory Committee, were having their desired effect.

Last October, the government had announced that the surcharge was being set at 55 per cent instead of the more realistic 84 per cent and the gap would be bridged by an automatic increase of 2.42 per cent every two months.

Considering just the automatic increase, the surcharge rate should now be 67.1 per cent, the corporation said. But factoring in the increases in fuel oil (8.5 per cent higher than last October), gas oil (11.3 per cent) and the weakened US dollar/lira exchange rate (6.5 per cent) the surcharge rate should stand at 68.5 per cent.