Rand’s weakness takes it toll on fuel prices
This month's rand weakness has taken its toll, without it, the petrol price would be down by nearly...
Flat oil prices and wide swings in the exchange rate have set South Africans up for changes in the fuel price which are similar to the mid-month picture.
This is according to the Automobile Association (AA) which was commenting on unaudited month-end data released by the Central Energy Fund.”Our expectation is that diesel will increase by around 52c a litre, with illuminating paraffin up by 49c,” says the AA.
“Petrol will see only minor changes, with a drop of around 2c a litre forecast for 93 unleaded, and a rise of 4c for 95 unleaded.”
International petroleum prices have remained generally flat since reaching a mid-month dip, but it was the exchange rate which caught the AA’s attention.
“From the rand’s peak of around R14 to the US dollar on September 7, it drew back to R13.20 by September 18, only to give up this gain and return to the R14 level on September 29,” the AA adds.
“This month’s rand weakness has taken its toll, without it, the petrol price would be down by nearly 30c a litre, and the diesel price increase would be limited to around 20c a litre,” the AA concludes.
