Consumers woke on Saturday to new and much higher prices for their fuels. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce announced what amounted to RD$4.00 and RD$5.00 price increases for gasoline. Premium gasoline was increased by RD$4.90 and regular went up by RD$3.90 per gallon. Diesel was increased by just RD$0.20 per gallon and propane gas was increased by RD$1.25 per gallon. The subsidized price for cooking gas (and for vehicles) is now set at RD$38.70 per gallon. Non-subsidized propane is now RD$60.65 per gallon. In the United States, the price for a barrel of crude increased by US$2.00 between Monday and Wednesday, accounting for the increase in local fuel prices.
The price of fuel has increased more than 10% in recent weeks of successive increases.