Libyan gov’t raises commercial price for kerosene as first step in reforms

Libyan gov't raises commercial price for kerosene as first step in reforms
Libyan gov't raises commercial price for kerosene as first step in reforms

Libya's internationally recognised government said onWednesday it was sharply increasing the price of kerosene for industrial andcommercial use as a first step to reform costly fuel subsidies and tacklesmuggling.

The price will rise to 0.85 Libyan dinars ($0.6) perlitre, which is also the production cost, the economy ministry of theTripoli-based government said in a decree published online.

The price of kerosene for domestic use would remainat the old level of 0.15 dinars "until the lifting of the in-kind subsidyand its replacement with a cash subsidy for other products like petrol anddiesel, which will be issued soon," it said.

"The aim of this decision is primarily to combatthe smuggling of this substance, which is purchased at the subsidised price andsmuggled abroad," the ministry said in an additional statement shared withReuters.

Oil-rich Libya has some of the world's most generousfuel subsidies, leading to rampant smuggling within the country and across itsborders. The illicit trade has benefited criminal networks that have flourishedduring years of political and armed conflict since the North African country's2011 uprising.

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