Phnom Penh, April 1 (IANS) Retail fuel prices in Cambodia continued to rise due to the escalation of the Middle East conflict, the Ministry of Commerce said.
In an announcement on Tuesday midnight, the ministry said a liter of regular gasoline will cost 5,450 riels ($1.36) from Wednesday until the next notice, up 9 per cent from 5,000 riels ($1.25) in the past three days.
Diesel will go for 7,500 riels ($1.88) per liter, up 4.16 per cent from 7,200 ($1.80) riels, the announcement added.
Also, the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) climbed to 3,900 riels ($0.97) per liter, up 14.7 percent from 3,400 riels ($0.85).
Since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the prices of regular gasoline, diesel, and LPG in Cambodia have risen by 41.5 per cent, 94.8 per cent, and 95 per cent, respectively, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
In an effort to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices, the government reduced import duties and taxes on fuel products on March 20.
On March 28, the government decided to reduce import duties on electric vehicles (EVs), passenger plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), electric stoves, and solar-powered devices.
The Southeast Asian country entirely relies on imported petroleum and diesel, as its seabed’s oil reserves have not been exploited yet, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier, on March 31, eighteen out of 36 airlines operating flights to and from Cambodia had increased their air ticket prices due to rising fuel costs caused by the Middle East conflict, according to a civil aviation spokesperson.
Sinn Chanserey Vutha, secretary of state and spokesperson for the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation had said that the airlines have added a fuel surcharge on their basic airfares based on flight distance.
Four domestic airlines had increased their airfares by about $21 on average, as foreign airlines have averagely raised their airfares by approximately $28, he had said in a news release.
–IANS
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