Brace for hefty fuel price increase this Wednesday
"The country's economy is in a fragile state, and any shocks to international oil prices or the rand/US dollar exchange rate could hurt fuel users badly."
It seems like 2021 has already picked up where 2020 left off in terms of a pending fuel hike.
The Automobile Association (AA) said fuel prices will rise significantly from Wednesday.
“The rand has continued to advance against the US dollar, which is a pleasing outcome considering the severe beating the currency took earlier in the year. But even the currency’s ongoing strength has not been enough to contain oil’s march back towards its pre-Covid-19 price levels.”
Petrol is set to rise by up to 43c a litre while diesel and illuminating paraffin will be up by 55c, said AA.
International oil prices have stabilised over the past few days, but the AA said it was too early to tell whether this was a new plateau, or an expected pullback as trading activity declined over the Christmas weekend.
“The trend up to 17 December was quite markedly upward, and if that picks up more steam in the new year, it won’t bode well for fuel prices in 2021,” the association said.
“While South African fuel prices are well off their record highs, the country’s economy is in a fragile state, and any shocks to international oil prices or the rand/US dollar exchange rate could hurt fuel users badly,” AA said.
Read original story on rekordeast.co.za
