Zim blows US$125,4 million in diesel, petrol imports in just a month

By Alois Vinga

ZIMBABWE spent a total US$125,4 million on diesel and petrol imports in March 2023, revealing an increase from the year’s first two months, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT)  data has revealed.

The data shows that in March 2023, US$83,8 million was spent on diesel imports with petrol imports chewing up US$41,6 million to give a whooping total of US$125,4 million.

The import list for the month reveals that the two fuels topped the bill in terms of expenditure closely followed by crude oil and electricity among others.

In comparison, figures for February 2023 shows that US$49,9 million and US$22,9 million was spent on diesel and petrol respectively.

The bulk of imports were however productively related as opposed to consumptives with machinery and equipment dominating the list.

Market watchers believe this trend was caused by the peaking of economic activity commonl when the year begins while others have attributed the trend to power outages which were intense during that period.

“The country sourced most of its imports from South Africa which accounted for about 37.6% of total imports, with China, Singapore, India and Zambia, contributing 19.2%, 16.7%, 3.7% and 3%, respectively,”  the data said.

The country’s import bill for the month of March 2023 amounted to US$744.5 million, reflecting a 19.8% increase from US$621.4 million recorded in the previous month with the  imports for the reporting month being  higher than in the comparable month in 2022.