Motorists' joy run to continue in March

 Good news for the UAE motorists. Now they can fill up their car's fuel tanks at up to 7.86 per cent cheaper prices in March.
This is the seventh consecutive downwards revision of monthly fuel prices since the government announced the deregulation policy in July. However, diesel price has gone up by 2.19 per cent.

A high level committee chaired by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy Mattar Al Nayadi and attended by the chief executive officers of oil marketing and distribution companies on Sunday afternoon reviewed the international oil prices in the past month and announced the new rates for March.
As per details, diesel price revised upward by 2.19 per cent to Dh1.40 a litre from Dh1.37 a litre in February. E-Plus-91 price lowered by 7.86 per cent to Dh1.29 a litre from Dh1.40 a litre last month, Super-98 is cheaper by 6.96 per cent to Dh1.47 a litre from Dh1.58 last month and Special-95 will be cheaper by 7.48 per cent to Dh1.36 a litre from Dh1.47 a litre.New prices will be effective from March 1.
In July, the government announced the deregulation of fuel prices linking it with the fluctuations in international markets.
Brent crude price plunged from $112 a barrel in June 2014 to $35 per barrel on February 27.
The Opec monthly basket prices rose to $29.19 a barrel on February 26 from $26.50 a barrel in January.
"The reduction in oil rate continues to reflect to weakening in global oil prices," said Dr Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
She said the fall in gasoline prices is positive for the consumer and it should be visible in the UAE's inflation figures.
"We expect to see a deceleration in annual inflation in 2016, compared to 2015, largely on the back of the lower gasoline prices," she added.
The moderate increase in diesel prices is not expected to have a marked impact on inflation, the chief economist said.
In Abu Dhabi, inflation rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year in January 2016, according to Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi. However, it dropped 0.6 per cent month on month in January 2016, as petroleum prices continued to slip.
The readjustment in fuel prices is part of the UAE policy to strengthen is fiscal policy reform process.
The deregulation of fuel prices has inspired the GCC nations to phase-out heavy subsidises on petrol prices they were providing. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have increased petrol prices at pump to do away with subsidies in recent months.
In line with lower oil prices, the UAE leadership has devised its post oil strategy under which contribution of hydrocarbons to economic growth would reduce to 20 per cent in 2021 from 30 per cent at present. In the coming years, there would strong emphasis on economic diversification.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com