Fuel suppliers in Northern Ireland need to quickly pass on the Chancellor’s reduction in fuel duty to help agri-food businesses survive during one of the most difficult periods for the sector on record, the agriculture minister has said.
Edwin Poots, in one of a raft of Executive releases published ahead of the election purdah period, said it is incumbent upon fuel retailers not to ignore the five pence a litre cut in duty announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, nor a slide in the price of crude oil.
His comments come as farms and food processors alike struggle to cope with the recent price hike for a range of inputs, including the red diesel used by tractors and other forms of refined oil used by agri-food businesses.
