Consumers anticipate drop in fuel prices
In spite of the depreciated rand/dollar exchange rate, South Africans are likely to experience further relief at the pumps next month.
The Automobile Association anticipates fuel prices to drop further at the end of this month, estimating a decrease of between 55 cents and 64 cents per litre for petrol, 60 cents for illuminating paraffin and between 53 cents and 57 cents for diesel.
According to a statement released by the association on August 17, the price fall would have been greater were it not for the rapidly depreciated rand/dollar exchange rate, which has offset the declining oil price.
“Without the impact of the exchange rate’s recent poor showing, the predicted drops would have been in a range between 75 and 83 cents a litre,” the Association said.
“The Rand has weakened considerably against the US dollar since the last week of July, fortunately for South African fuel users, international oil prices have continued to slip, meaning there is still a reasonable prospect of a drop in the fuel price at the end of the month.
“While a slight levelling off has become apparent in the downward trend of international petroleum prices, we are confident that fuel prices will drop at the end of August, but if oil prices flatten out, motorists will be at the whim of the Rand in coming months,” the Association concluded.
