Antigua and Barbuda’s consumers are enjoying the most affordable gasoline prices among their peers in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
As per a report released by the ECCU, detailing gasoline prices within the currency union, the average gasoline price stood at $16.12 cents.
Among the eight member countries of the ECCU, which include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, prices ranged from as high as $17.98 cents in Montserrat to as low as $13.99 cents in Antigua and Barbuda by the end of August this year.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, addressing the parliament on Monday, attributed this favorable pricing to the government’s decision not to pass on the recent global oil price increases to consumers but to absorb them instead.
He explained, “Petroleum prices have surged to around US$100 per barrel, and the reason we have not raised gasoline prices at the pumps is due to our government’s subsidy on fuel sales to consumers.
In fact, for this month and the next, we will be making payments to the West Indies Oil Company. So, instead of collecting up to $3 million in consumption taxes from WIOC, the government will actually be covering their fuel costs to keep prices low.”
He added that this policy exemplifies the government’s commitment to assist the residents of Antigua and Barbuda in managing their cost of living.
In terms of diesel prices, Antigua and Barbuda rank second lowest, at $14.25 cents, with Montserrat being the cheapest at $14.10 cents.
The ECCU report reveals that in August 2023, gasoline prices dropped by nearly nine percent compared to the same month the previous year, while diesel prices decreased by an average of 15 percent across the entire currency union. (POINTE XPRESS)
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