{"id":141161,"date":"2026-05-15T14:02:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ndindi-nyoro-warns-of-economic-shock-as-fuel-prices-surge-past-sh240\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:02:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:02:53","slug":"ndindi-nyoro-warns-of-economic-shock-as-fuel-prices-surge-past-sh240","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ndindi-nyoro-warns-of-economic-shock-as-fuel-prices-surge-past-sh240\/","title":{"rendered":"Ndindi Nyoro warns of economic shock as fuel prices surge past Sh240"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 \u2014 Former House Budget Committee Chairperson Ndindi Nyoro has warned that Kenya risks an \u201cunprecedented economic decline\u201d if rising fuel prices and the resulting inflationary pressure are not urgently contained.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His warning comes just hours after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced sharp increases in pump prices for the May 15 to June 14 review cycle, pushing Super Petrol to Sh214.25 per litre in Nairobi and Diesel to Sh242.92 per litre.<\/p>\n

EPRA attributed the surge to higher global fuel costs, reinstated 8 per cent VAT on petroleum products, and inflation-adjusted excise duties. Diesel recorded the steepest increase after a more than 20 per cent rise in landed import costs between March and April.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Nairobi on Friday, Nyoro said the latest increases confirm his long-standing warning that fuel-driven inflation could destabilise the wider economy unless immediate policy action is taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drastic fuel increment in terms of prices will hurt the economy of Kenya to the tune of hundreds of billions,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the amount we need to bring down the fuel prices is not even a fraction of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cost-effective approach <\/h2>\n

Nyoro argued that government intervention through tax reliefs and subsidies would be more cost-effective than absorbing the long-term economic shock of sustained high fuel prices.<\/p>\n

He proposed a three-pronged emergency approach, including the removal of the 8 per cent VAT on fuel products, a Sh4 reduction in distribution and retail margins, and the scrapping of the Sh7 Road Maintenance Levy increment introduced in 2024.<\/p>\n

According to his proposal, the combined measures would immediately lower pump prices to below Sh190 per litre, with Super Petrol projected at around Sh186 and Diesel at Sh189.<\/p>\n

In addition, Nyoro urged the government to release Sh5 billion from the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) Fund to cushion diesel prices, arguing that diesel is a critical input in transport, agriculture and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiesel is an ascendant input in every production that we do in this country,\u201d he said, warning that its continued escalation would accelerate inflation across all sectors of the economy.<\/p>\n

Nyoro has also written to the National Assembly seeking amendments to the VAT Act and Road Maintenance Levy framework to facilitate the proposed reductions.<\/p>\n

He urged Members of Parliament to publicly declare their positions on the proposals, saying Kenyans would closely monitor legislative action on fuel pricing reforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of Parliament will sign either they support or they don\u2019t so that Kenyans can clearly see who stands with them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The remarks come amid rising public concern over the cost of living, with fuel prices now among the biggest drivers of inflation in Kenya\u2019s import-dependent economy.<\/p>\n

Nyoro warned that failure to act decisively could trigger a broader economic slowdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe either reduce fuel prices now or we pay a much higher price in the medium and long term,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 \u2014 Former House Budget Committee Chairperson Ndindi Nyoro has warned that Kenya risks an \u201cunprecedented economic decline\u201d if rising fuel prices and the resulting inflationary pressure are not urgently contained. His warning comes just hours after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced sharp increases in pump prices for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}