By Kris Crismundo/PNA
MANILA — Local oil firms announced yet another increase in the prices of petroleum products, set to take effect Tuesday morning.
In separate text messages, industry spokespersons said their respective companies will hike diesel prices by PHP0.55 per liter, gasoline by PHP0.20 per liter, and kerosene by PHP0.40 per liter.
They explained that the latest oil price hike takes into account the implementation of the second tranche of the excise tax increase mandated under government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), which took effect at the start of the year.
With this fresh hike in excise taxes, the government now collects PHP4.50 per liter on diesel and PHP9 per liter on regular and premium gasoline.
Meantime, international benchmark Brent crude oil closed last week at USD61.64 per barrel, which is lower by USD1.06 than its level a week earlier.
Analysts have predicted a softening in world crude prices as a result of weak economic data from China as well as the outlook for the global economy, which is expected to slow down to 3.5 percent.
