Port-au-Prince – The Haitian government will meet Tuesday with representatives of oil companies and will reimburse them about two billion gourdes (more than 21,739,000 thousand), Finance Minister Ronald Decembre announced.
‘The treasury management is already authorized to make several payments to the oil companies to solve the cash flow problem they face,’ the minister told the press.
Last April the country suffered the strong impact of a fuel crisis. In the gas stations, hundreds of vehicles and motorcycles were crowded together, and many times they had to wait for hours for the supply, while the illegal sale proliferated almost twice the established price.
According to companies such as Kimazou, Bandari Haiti SA, CapInvest, Dinasa, Sol Haiti and DNC, the subsidies owed by the State are of such magnitude that companies do not have the financial resources to supply the local market.
The situation can trigger a new crisis, experts say, especially when the school year will restart in a few weeks and fuel demand increases.
Several economists point out that the Government should stop subsidizing the price of petroleum products at gas stations, however, this will have a negative impact on the population’s cost of living.
Only between last October and June, the State allocated about 35 billion gourdes (about 376 million dollars) in fuel subsidies, according to official data. Continue reading