AA warns ‘worse to come’ for motorists
The Automobile Association (AA) predicts the worst is yet to come for South African motorists at the pumps.
AA spokesperson Layton Beard says the mid-month prediction shows an increase of up to 10 cents a litre for petrol, as much 16 cents for diesel and illuminating paraffin to increase by 12 cents.
Beard says the main reason is the rand's weakness against the US dollar, since international oil prices dropped since the beginning of August.
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Brent crude oil was trading below $60 per barrel on Thursday.
"We are concerned that there may be worse to come depending what the outlook looks like for the rand against the US dollar,” Beard says.
"The South African economy is in a perilous state, with ongoing policy uncertainty and a growing debt burden. The country is ill-placed to weather its domestic challenges, let alone developments on the international front. This leaves fuel users increasingly exposed to movements in the rand."
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