Motorists in Tanzania will this July experience price break at the pumps for the first time since January.

Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) on Wednesday announced decreases in retail and wholesale prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene imported through the port of Dar es Salaam.

The regulator said the move follows the drop in both world oil market prices and basis point premiums (BPS).

Since January, both wholesale and retail prices maintained an uptick across the country as importation costs remained high at main seaports of Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara.

"For the month of July 2019, retail prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene decreased by Tsh40 ($0.01734) per litre (equivalent to 1.72 per cent), Tsh11 ($0.00477) per litre (equivalent to 0.49 per cent) and Tsh13 ($ 0.00564) per litre (equivalent to 0.58 per cent) respectively", Ewura’s acting director general Nzinyangwa Mchany said in a statement.

The wholesale prices of Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene decreased by Tsh40.33 ($ 0.01749) per litre equivalent to 1.81 per cent and Tsh10.94 ($ 0.00474) per litre equivalent to 0.52 per cent and Tsh12.61 ($ 0.00547) per litre equivalent to 0.61 per cent.

Retail prices of petrol and diesel coming through the Tanga port also declined by Tsh 64 ($0.02775) per litre equivalent to 2.69 per cent and Tsh69 ($0.02992) per litre equivalent to 2.98 per cent, respectively.

Wholesale prices for the same products entering through Tanga decreased by Tsh64.10 ($0.02779) per litre equivalent to 2.83 per cent and Tsh68.40 ($ 0.02966) per litre equivalent to 3.14 per cent, respectively.

However, prices went up in the southern regions served by the port of Mtwara “as the previous batch of petrol imported through the port in April 2019 at the world oil market price of March 2019 was cheaper than the current appropriate world oil market price of May this year.”

The agency also said petrol station operators in Mtwara, Lindi and Ruvuma regions would have to source kerosene from Dar es Salaam since there is none left at the Mtwara port storage terminals.

“Hence, the retail prices of kerosene for those regions is based on the cost of the product received through Dar es Salaam port and bridging cost to the regions,” Mr Mchany explained.

Consumers in the commercial city of Dar es Salaam will this month pay Tshs2,312 ($1.00241) per litre of petrol, Tsh2,210 ($0.95819) for diesel and Tsh2,167 ($0.93955) for kerosene at the pump.

In the capital Dodoma, the retail price for petrol now retails at Tsh2,371, diesel Tsh2,268 ( $ 0.98334) and kerosene Tsh2,226 ($0.96513) per litre.

But in the tourist citadel Arusha, retail prices are Tsh2,382 ($1.03276) for petrol, Tsh2,291($ 0.99331) diesel and Tsh2,286 ($0.99114) kerosene.

The last time the energy regulator announced a decline in fuel prices was in early January, when a similar price dip was also reported in Kenya.

The move followed a world market prices drop in December after spiking in October.