MIFCO: Fishermen will continue to receive diesel at old rate

Fishing boats in Male' City lagoon on May 14, 2020. (Sun Photo/Mohamed Muzain Nazim)

The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has officially retracted its recent fuel price increase for local fishermen, confirming that diesel will remain available at previous rates. Initially, an industry-wide price hike was proposed by the State Trading Organization (STO); however, following subsequent policy refinements, essential services—including the 'Fahi Hakatha' initiative for fishermen—were granted exemptions. Consequently, MIFCO has realigned its pricing structure, ensuring that fishing vessels benefit from the established March 5 rates, while other commercial consumers will face a different price tier, amidst ongoing global market volatility affecting oil costs.

MIFCO reversed its decision to increase diesel prices for fishing vessels.
The STO granted an exemption for the Fahi Hakatha initiative which supports fishermen.
Fishermen will retain the March 5 rate of MVR 16.54 per liter.
Vessels selling over three tons of fish receive a further discount to MVR 16.04 per liter.
Non-fishing commercial entities will be charged MVR 17.54 per liter for diesel.

Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has revised its decision to increase the price of fuel, announcing on Tuesday that fishermen will continue to receive diesel at the old rate.

On Monday, the State Trading Organization (STO) made the decision to implement a sharp hike in the price of fuel sold to businesses. This prompted MIFCO to announce a rise in price of diesel sold from its fish collection centers and ships to MVR 27.24 per liter for fishing boats and MVR 28.54 per liter for others.

But a couple of hours later, the STO announced that public transport service providers, petrol sheds in the atolls that rely on fuel purchases from the organization, as well as the state’s ‘Fahi Hakatha’ initiative for fishermen will be exempt from the price hike.

In a statement on Tuesday, MIFCO noted that STO has revised its earlier decision, and decided to provide diesel at a subsidized rate to support the ‘Fahi Hakatha’ initiative for fishermen.

MIFCO announced that it has therefore decided to provide diesel to fishing boats at the previous rate announced on March 5 – MVR 16.54 per liter, and a lower MVR 16.04 per liter for boats selling over three tons of fish.

The company will be selling diesel to other parties at the rate of MVR 17.54 per liter.

The sharp rise in fuel prices by STO comes amid global shocks to oil prices as the US and Israel’s war on Iran continues.