THE recent slip of the Rand against the US Dollar could spell bad news for motorists at the petrol pumps next month, with fuel prices expected to increase significantly.

According to the Automobile Association (AA), current data suggests a price increase of 43 cents a litre is in the offing for petrol, 62 cents for diesel and 47 cents for illuminating paraffin.

‘This is not good news for fuel users at a time when oil prices are also rising,’ the AA said.

Oil traded within a very tight band for most of January, but there has been a steady uptick since the beginning of February.

‘This trend has accelerated in the last week in particular.’

The AA said if the trend for oil and the Rand don’t flatten out, there could be worse to come before month end.

‘We advise motorists to factor some fuel price pain into their budgets as we move towards March,’ the association concluded.

Earlier this month both grades of petrol increased by 7 cents per litre, diesel 0.05% sulphur went up by 1 cent per litre and diesel 0.005% sulphur by 2 cents per litre.

The price of illuminating paraffin, however, dropped by 5 cents per litre.