South Africans will need to count their pennies and brace themselves for a record fuel hike when April rolls around, says the Automobile Association (AA).
The Association released a statement on Wednesday, 16 March, following the mid-month fuel data released by the Central Energy Fund (CEF), noting that the latest fuel projections could reach R24/litre for petrol and R23.60 for diesel with a R2 increase for all fuel grades, as per EWN.
“Based on the current data, 95 octane petrol is set to increase by R2.15/l, 93 octane is expected to climb by R2.07/l, diesel by between R2.94/l and R3.08/l and illuminating paraffin by R2.51/l,” the statement read.
The Ukraine-Russia conflict has been pinpointed as a major reason for the exorbitant fuel prices, however, the association’s Layton Beard indicated that it could be difficult to determine how much South Africans would need to fork out when heading to local petrol stations in April.
According to Beard, if market volatility persists, fuel levies will probably be pushed to record highs, reports IOL.
“If realised at month-end, these will be the biggest increases to fuel prices in South Africa’s history and will, undoubtedly, have major ramifications for all consumers and the economy in general.
We must note, though, that this is the mid-month outlook, and oil prices are for the moment see-sawing significantly. So, there may yet be some relief before the official adjustment by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is made going into April,” the association’s statement further read.
The association warns that South African motorists may need to brace themselves and prepare for “what is likely to be a long winter if the conflict in Ukraine is drawn out.”
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