Rand hammers fuel price – AA

Johannesburg - The weak rand has erased a potential drop in the local petrol price of between 30 cents to 37c a litre, the Automobile Association (AA) said on Wednesday.

In commenting on unaudited mid-month data released by the Central Energy Fund (CEF), the AA said gains in international petroleum prices have been negated by the deteriorating rand.  

"Instead, the current data shows that the price of 95 unleaded petrol is set to remain virtually unchanged, while a slight decrease of 7c/litre is predicted for 93 unleaded," said the AA.

It said diesel consumers are in line for hefty price jumps of up to 50c/litre, with rand weakness accounting for around two-thirds of the hike. Illuminating paraffin shows a similar picture.

"There is little certainty on where the bottom of the oil price may be, or on the outlook for the rand/dollar exchange rate. Given the instability of the past two weeks, it is very difficult to forecast the movement of the fuel price by month end," concluded the AA.

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