Maputo — The Mozambican government has announced a cut in fuel prices, in some cases of up to almost 30 percent effective Thursday.

The sharpest cut is in the price of kerosene, which falls from 5,900 to 4,210 meticais a litre, a decline of 28.6 percent. (1 USD = 18,200 meticais)

Jet fuel falls in price by 26.7 percent, from 6,333.3 to 4,644 meticais per litre.

A litre of diesel now costs 7,080 rather than 8,850 meticais, which is a price cut of 20 percent.

The lowest cut is for petrol, which falls in price by just 3.8 percent, from 9,150 to 8,800 meticais a litre.

Cooking gas (LPG), however, goes up in price by 13.9 percent, rising from 9,050 to 10,310.2 meticais per kilo.

These prices refer to sales to the public in the port cities of Maputo, Matola, Beira and Nacala. Elsewhere in the country, the fuel distributors may add their transport costs.

Fuel prices are reviewed every month, and are altered if the cost of importing petroleum products, when expressed in meticais, has risen or fallen by three per cent.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, the price cuts result from the recent decline in the world market prices for petroleum derivatives.

The exception was LPG where the price remained much the same - and, since over the past four months the metical has devalued against the dollar by about 13.5 per cent, the price of LPG had to go up.