Double increase in fuel expected
During his budget speech the finance minister announced a 80.5c/l increase for fuel.
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene announced during his first budget speech, an increase in general fuel levy by 30.5c/l and 50c/l increase for the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy, effective as of April 1.
“The (50c/l) increase is required in order to finance the progress made by the RAF administration in clearing the claims backlog.
“But it also reflects the current compensation system, which has accumulated a R98 billion unfunded liability, is not sustainable,” Nene said.
Motorists enjoyed six months of cuts in fuel prices including the high drop of R1.23c/l in January bring costs to R10.31 for petrol and R9.26 for diesel.
The energy department is expected to announce fuel price adjustments for March today.
Chief economist Dawie Roodt predicts an increase between 90c/l and R1/l for March.
“The reason for the increase is due to the recent increase in oil prices,” he said.
Roodt says that while it’s difficult to predict long term, he suggests that motorists have seen the bottom of fuel prices.
“By the end of the year, it’s most likely that motorist will pay more for fuel than what they did in the previous year,” he said.
