Cape Town — Motorists can expect a difficult month when it comes to fuel prices for May, with petrol prices expected to increase for a fourth consecutive month.
According to the latest data by the Central Energy Fund (CEF), 93 and 95 petrol will increase by 29 and 30 cents per litre,respectively. Fuel prices have increased by a net R1.80 this year already for February, March and April, following a strong start to the year with a 76 cents decrease in January, The Citizen reported.
There is, however, some good news for diesel motorists as diesel (0.05%_ will decrease by 29 cents per litre, diesel (0.005%) will decrease by 33 cents per litre, with illuminating paraffin decreasing by 22 cents per litre.
According to BusinessTech, The main driver behind higher prices is the price of global oil – although the rand’s relatively weaker position vs the US dollar in the first quarter of the year (~R19/$) has also done no favours for recoveries.
While the rand has lost some ground against the dollar this week, the BER noted that this was primarily due to the greenback’s strength, not the rand’s weakness.
The rand has strengthened from over R19 to the dollar (hitting as high as R19.25) to as low as R18.46; however, shifting sentiment around interest rates halted this recovery.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has made a point in the past of reminding consumers that the daily CEF snapshots are not predictive and do not cover other potential changes like slate levy adjustments or retail margin changes, which could come into play when the fuel price is determined on the 25th of April.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
