South Africa fuel prices to fall in January because of rand gains
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Read 2minutesThe rand has recently been performing well against the U.S. dollar, despite increases in international petroleum prices during December. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
The retail price of petrol and the wholesale price of diesel in South Africa will fall Wednesday because the rand has strengthened, the energy department said on Friday.
The price of petrol will fall by 34 cents to 14.42 rand per litre in the commercial hub of Gauteng province. Diesel will fall by 22 cents to 12.73 rand.
The rand has recently been performing well against the U.S. dollar, despite increases in international petroleum prices during December.
The Automobile Association (AA) based their findings on unaudited month-end fuel data released by the Central Energy Fund.
“The rand has had a very strong run against the dollar since the middle of the month‚ gaining considerable ground after the ANC’s electoral conference chose Cyril Ramaphosa as the new leader of the party‚” the AA said in a statement on Thursday. “After opening the month at R13.80 to the dollar‚ the rand is now testing the R12.30 level.”
The association said that despite higher international oil prices over December‚ all grades of fuel were set to fall at the Department of Energy’s next price adjustment. “We expect petrol will be down by up to 34 cents a litre‚ diesel by 26 cents and illuminating paraffin by 28 cents‚” the AA said.
“The rand – and‚ by extension‚ fuel prices – have proven vulnerable to political developments in South Africa over the past year‚” the association commented. “Cyril Ramaphosa’s political and fiscal position ahead of the February 2018 budget speech is likely to be the most influential determining factor for fuel price movements in the short term‚” the AA added – according to Times Live.
