JOHANNESBURG – The price of petrol is expected to rise overnight and motorists should expect to pay a further 71 cents more a litre as from Wednesday, eNCA has reported.
eNCA also reported that diesel is also set to rise by 60 cents a litre while illuminating paraffin could see a whopping 98 cents price hike.
The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) has reported that fuel price hikes are due to the weakening of the South African rand against the United States dollar as well as the progressive price rise of crude oil.
Global agencies like Moody’s, Fitch and S&P Global further downgraded the country’s economy a weak ago, placing the economy into junk status and putting both local and foreign currency ratings below sub-investment grade.
The association also warned of further price hikes for petrol, diesel and paraffin towards major holidays like Christmas and New Year in the next coming weeks.
According to the Automobile Association, the budget speech as delivered by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is also to blame for fuel price hikes, adding that the rand eventually plummeted short against the US dollar as markets digested his budget policy statement.
Economists are blaming political instability in the country which they say has affected the country’s economy, adding that the situation could be worse if the government fails to put effective measures to restore investor and business confidence.
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