The United Arab Emirates will reduce domestic prices for gasoline in March while raising them for diesel, the ministry of energy said on Sunday.

The price of a litre of octane 95 gasoline will fall to Dh1.36 ($0.37) from Dh1.47 at the start of next month, the ministry said via Twitter. It cited lower demand for gasoline at this time of the year as well as movements in international gasoline prices and higher supply.

The domestic diesel price will rise to Dh1.40 from Dh1.37.

Last July, the UAE said it was shifting from a system of fixed, subsidised fuel prices to adjusting prices monthly in response to global trends.

It did not reveal details of its new formula nor say whether subsidies would be removed entirely, but announced that fuel prices would be "based on the average global prices with the addition of operating costs". – Reuters