The US-Israel assaults on Iran and Iran’s response have set world fuel prices skyrocketing.
Fuel stations in Majuro — both the Mobil-supplies stations and Pacific International Inc. — raised their prices two times in the past three weeks.
The Mobil stations went from under seven dollars per gallon for both gas and diesel to $7.65 for gas per gallon and $8.25 for diesel and remained there as of Tuesday this week. PII remains the lowest, but still bumped to $7.25 for gas — it had been $6.60 per gallon until early last week — and $6.50 for diesel, up $1.25 from a few weeks ago.
Expectations are that fuel prices will continue upward as long as the war on Iran and the regional escalation continues.
Marshalls Energy Company has already announced that it will raise power rates by nearly 25 percent next month.
Taxi drivers announced over the weekend that taxi fares are bumping up, an action that is likely to cause serious problems for local families who are already struggling financially.
The new taxi fares jumped 50 percent for the downtown area, from $2 to $3, with the student charge going from $1 to $1.50. From downtown to Rairok, the fare is $4 for adults and $2 for students. The new rate to and from Laura is $7, up from $5.
It is also anticipated that as new shipments of food and other goods start arriving in the RMI, local businesses will increase their retail and wholesale prices will go up in line with the costs they are being charged by shipping companies and vendors the US, Asia and the South Pacific.
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