Luanda, March 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Angolan association leaders considered on Monday that the 50% rise in the price of diesel was a "very significant change" that will mainly affect the end consumer, due to the increase in production costs.
The price of diesel in Angola rose today to 300 kwanzas (30 euro cents) per litre, compared to 200 kwanzas previously, an increase of 50%.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Association of Road Hauliers (Atroma), António Gavião Neto, said he was surprised by the news, even though the readjustment of the price of diesel was expected.
António Neto said that the costs will be passed on to the end consumer, who will be most affected by the measure.
"There is no doubt that there will always be a change in the financial programme already planned by the company management, which will cause a re-engineering in the accounting department of the associated companies (...), but it will not affect our cash flow very much, because it is a cost that will be transferred to the end consumer," he said.
He emphasised that this measure will have implications for the cost of living, making the basic food basket more expensive.
"These are the implications it will have in the future, if it hasn't already started as of now," said António Neto, considering the 50% increase in the price of diesel to be "very negative".
"If we were talking in the order of 10% or 5% perhaps it wouldn't be felt very much, but 50% is a very high figure," he added, pointing out that diesel is the fuel most consumed by Angolan industries.
The president of Atroma said that the government's cash flow had been "blatantly affected" by the fuel subsidy, but pointed out that people's per capita income had not kept pace with the withdrawal of subsidies, particularly in the case of civil servants, who had a 25% increase last month.
For his part, the president of the Angolan Agricultural Association (AAPA), Wanderley Ribeiro, said that this increase comes at a time when there is greater state control over fuel supply systems and some farms are having to increase their storage capacity.
Wanderley Ribeiro stressed that the cost structure will increase, especially at the commercial level, but recognised the need for this measure "because there is a very high deficit as a result of the subsidies given to fuel".
"We foresee an increase in the cost of production from now on, there's no getting away from it. This bill will always be paid by the end consumer, we can't escape this situation," he said.
The president of the AAPA emphasised that, from the point of view of those who produce, the increase is ‘very high’, but for the state, which wants to end fuel subsidies, this change "was the one that would allow more leeway to make its own resources available".
In terms of agriculture or national production, "it's a very significant alteration", said the association leader, regretting the implementation of the measure without first hearing the associations.
"It would be an interesting exercise to listen to alternative measures that could be used to mitigate the impact of this 50% (...) it would be interesting for the government to understand, especially in those products that make up the basic food basket and those that already have some local supply, what impact this will have," he added.
Wanderley Ribeiro noted that, considering that Angolan inflation is mainly related to food and the high cost of producing food, "it would be useful" for the law on subsidising fuel for agriculture to be brought into force.
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Lusa
