The trend of increasing fuel sales, following the cancellation of all lockdown measures, has finally ended in May, mostly due to soaring fuel prices.
According to the latest data, petrol and diesel sales in May 2022 have dropped by 6 % and 8 % respectively, compared to the same month last year. In the first four months on this year, petrol and diesel sales have recorded double digit increases due to lifting of all lockdown measures.
Therefore, petrol sales have risen by 24 % year- on-year in January, 29 % in February, 18 % in March and 25 % in April 2022, with similar increases observed in case of diesel sales.
However, despite the increases in the January- April 2022 period, fuel sales have not yet recovered to the pre-pandemic levels, reaching about 90 % of the pre-pandemic level so far in 2022.
Fuel retailers are concerned about soaring fuel prices, fearing that it will further decrease the demand in the coming months. Therefore, they have requested from the Government to consider reducing VAT rate on fuels.
