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Gasoline Goes Up Tomorrow
The expected rise in the cost of
gasoline took a break over the
weekend. The ¢4 colones for
super, ¢3 colones for regular
and ¢2 colones for diesel
increase had been expected on
Saturday, when the approved hike
was to have been published in
the official newspaper La Gaceta
on Friday.
The approval is being published
today, which will mean an
adjustment at the pumps.
The current price of gasoline is
¢420 colones (us$0.89) for
super; ¢402 colones (us$0.88)
for regular; and ¢303 (us$0.64)
for diesel.
What the increase means is that
it will cost ¢180 colones more
to fill a 45 litre tank with
super gasoline.
This will be the fourth increase
in the price of gasoline this
year. The increase is for an
adjustment of taxes on the price
of gasoline at the pumps and is
not related to the increase in
cost of crude on world markets
or production and based on the
Ley de Simplificación y
Eficiencia Tributaria.
In accordance with this law, the
taxman can review the tax on
gasoline every three months and
make an adjustment that does not
increase 3% at any time. The
adjustment then needs the
approval of the Autoridad
Reguladora de los Servicios
Públicos (Aresep) - the
regulating authority on public
prices and services - and then
needs to be published in La
Gaceta, the daily "official"
newspaper.
Gasoline station owners last
week made their own request to
the Aresep for an increase on
the profits they can make on the
sale of gasoline, which could
mean another round of hikes if
the request is approved.
There is no doubt that the
rising cost of gasoline will put
pressure on the economy and
rising prices for all types of
goods and services.
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