Fuel price set to drop substantially
Motorists will be paying at least 41 cents a litre less
Motorists can look forward to some relief soon, as fuel prices are set to decrease substantially in February.
According to the Automobile Association (AA), the prices are set to drop on the first Wednesday in February (7 February). They commented on the mid-month fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund, and said it could be attributed to the continued positive balance shown by the fund to the unusual but welcome stability of the rand against the US dollar since the last week of December.
“The Rand/ US dollar exchange rate has had one of its flattest periods in recent times and has been trading in a very narrow band between R12,30 and R12,40 to the dollar since 28 December,” the AA said.
Another contributing factor to the decrease is the stable international prices of petrol and diesel over the same period, although, with traders back at work after the holiday period, both are starting to pick up again.
“Nevertheless, as things stood on 12 January, the price of petrol is set to drop by 41 cents a litre – which will have us paying R13,86 a litre at the coast and R14,35 a litre inland,” the AA said.
The wholesale price of diesel is predicted to decrease by 23 cents a litre, and the maximum retail price of illuminating paraffin will probably drop by 26 cents a litre.
But, because of the unpredictability of the Rand/ US dollar exchange rate, the outlook further into 2018 is complicated. The exchange rate is largely dependent on political and economic factors that affect South Africa’s attractiveness as an investment destination.
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