Bolivia has decided to extend the domestic fuel price freeze for another 12 months, a measure that covers gasoline, diesel and other widely used energy products. The decision was set out in Supreme Decree 5652, signed on July 9, 2026, by President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, amid a broader transition in the country's energy and exchange-rate policy.
The rule preserves the current reference values for the domestic market throughout that period. Special gasoline will continue to sell for 6.96 bolivianos per liter, while diesel will remain at 9.80 bolivianos per liter. The scope also includes compressed natural gas for vehicles, liquefied petroleum gas and aviation gasoline, bringing CNG into a validity scheme that had not initially covered it.
The freeze does not close the door on a change of regime; it postpones it. Once the transitional period ends, prices will be calculated through a formula combining the international purchase value of fuel in dollars, the average exchange rate of the previous month and an adjustment factor. Under that design, domestic prices will for the first time be explicitly connected to external variables that until now were mainly absorbed through subsidy policy.
The adjustment factor established by the decree is obtained by dividing 10.4003 by the monthly average exchange rate. That mechanism preserves a state cushioning component when the official dollar rate rises above that threshold, because the state continues to cover part of the difference between supply costs and the price paid by consumers.
The decision comes in a context of growing fiscal pressure from fuel imports and a review of the exchange-rate framework. Since late 2025, Bolivia has begun gradually dismantling the fixed exchange rate that had been in place since 2011 and has moved toward a more flexible regime, forcing a recalibration of how domestic energy prices are sustained.
The decree also authorizes the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance to allocate up to 1 billion dollars to Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos to cover the gap between import costs and the international parity price of oil. If the state company's financial needs require it, additional funds may be approved, even in local currency, with the corresponding certification from the hydrocarbons area or the relevant regulator.
Paz Pereira's government is seeking to reorganize the energy system with new rules for hydrocarbons, electricity and investment. The price freeze offers a one-year social and economic pause, but it also sets up the next step: a fuel structure more closely tied to the dollar, oil and the fiscal capacity of the Bolivian state.
