Angola petrol price rises 28 pct after subsidy ends

A customer uses a petrol nozzle to fill up his tank in a gas station in Nice August 27, 2012. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard·Reuters· (Reuters)

LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola's petrol price has risen 28 percent since the government ended subsidies at the end of April, residents in the capital said on Thursday, in a move likely to push up inflation in Africa's second biggest oil exporter. The pump price of petrol averages 115 kwanza ($1.06) per litre, up from 90 kwanza per litre prior to the removal of subsidies on April 30, local residents said. The finance ministry said in a statement last week it would remove subsidies from Sept. 30 but another notice on its website said they would end on April 30. The ministry did not respond to requests for clarification. Angola's headline inflation rose to 8.23 percent year-on-year in April from 7.87 percent in March, and is likely to continue its upward momentum in May following the fuel price increase, economists said. A sharp decline in global crude oil prices last year has helped push the local kwanza currency to all-time lows regularly in recent months. The kwanza was trading at 108.95 against the dollar on the official market on Thursday, but was nearer 160 on the secondary market in Luanda. ($1 = 108.9500 kwanzas)

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