Fuel prices have started to go down, following the drop in international prices.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry yesterday said pump prices for petrol in Kigali, should not exceed Rwf1,000 per litre while diesel must also not exceed Rwf1,000 per litre. The directive takes immediate effect.

The ministry said international crude prices had trended down since it last raised domestic fuel prices in October.

"This reduction in fuel prices is mainly due to the reduction in oil prices on the international market in the last three months," the statement said.

Until yesterday, a litre of both petrol and diesel cost Rwf1,050 at the different filling stations.

Analysts say fuel prices can be adjusted when international oil prices move by more than four percent over a 22-working day period.

Prices on the global market had risen by 10 percent to USD $96 per barrel, up from 87 per barrel in December 2010, as a result of global spillovers caused mainly by increase in fuel prices.

Government was then forced to increase prices in January 2011 from Rwf 952 to Rwf 965 with another increment in April, where pump prices rose to Rwf1060, in effort to scale down the effects.