The ARESEP, the regulator of public prices and services, admitted to making a wrong calculation in the margin (profit) of gasoline retailers, a mistake that will see fuel prices increase ¢9 colones a litre.
On Tuesday, the regulating body said that fixing the mistake involves annulling the ¢4 colones per litre drop that took effect last Friday and increasing prices by ¢5 colones per litre for a period of 22 months.
The correction will see the cost of a litre of super gasoline go to ¢747 instead of the current ¢738; plus or regular gasoline would increase to ¢707 from ¢698; and diesel fuel to ¢624 from ¢615.
The decision was announced on Tuesday by Juan Manuel Quesada, head of the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), who said that despite not being directly responsible for the calculations, assumes the responsibility for the mistake.
With the correction the margin for gasoline stations increases from ¢39 colones per litre to ¢47.
