| The new prices took consumers by surprise. |
Like other essential products, the price of gas has also increased, a hard blow for consumers.
Unpleasant surprise. Consumers discovered the new gas prices a few days ago, and there is reason to be taken aback, because the increase is quite significant. The 12.5 kg bottle went from 86,600 ariary to 91,500 ariary at Vitogaz, compared to 102,000 ariary at other distributors. “It’s incredible, we didn’t expect it. My budget is no longer keeping up,” laments Séraphine, a housewife caught off guard in a gas station, her usual place of supply. She is not the only one to be distraught by this sudden increase. “I believed that the price of gas was fixed to promote the fight against deforestation,” says Jérôme, restaurateur and heavy user of butane due to frequent power cuts.
He is absolutely right. In 2021, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Malagasy Butane Committee (CMB) signed an agreement in favor of the promotion of clean energy, the improvement of well-being households, and the fight against forest degradation. VAT on butane gas has thus been reduced from 20% to 5%, while 97% of households still use wood or charcoal, with an annual consumption of 500,000 tonnes.
The agreement was valid for one year, renewable and made it possible to reduce the price of butane by 9%. Gas retailing has also been introduced to make this fuel more accessible to a large number of people.
No impact
Obviously, the convention has been abandoned. However, the price of gas had been stabilized, or at least smoothed, thanks to collaboration between the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Consumption, and the CMB, at the time of Minister Edgard Razafindravahy.
This increase comes precisely before the announcement of a 5% increase in VAT on butane gas, bringing it to 10%. Consumers therefore fear a further increase in the price of the bottle. However, according to statements by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Rindra Hasinirina Rabarinirinason, in Tsimbazaza to journalists after the presentation of the initial finance bill, this should not be the case. “VAT on butane gas and its container should increase from 5% to 10% in 2025. This increase was agreed with the operators. The subject was discussed with players in the sector to reduce the VAT refund paid to them each year,” explained “the big financier”.
These comments are confirmed by Zo Andriamampianina, president of the CMB: “No new increase in the price of butane gas for individuals should take place, even if this 5% increase in VAT is adopted in the PLFI 2025 by the two Chambers of the Parliament,” he reassured.
External factors have also contributed to this increase, such as the Russo-Ukrainian war, which complicates gas supplies, as well as attacks on boats perpetrated by Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea.
In any case, it is a bad blow for environmental protection and the fight against deforestation.
The Madagascar Express
