The price of petrol could rise by up to 30c a litre next week due to the weaker rand and the high oil price, economists said on Wednesday.
”The unfortunate thing is that the oil price remained around $71 [a barrel] for the whole of May and the rand has fallen,” Absa economist Ridle Markus said.
He said the oil price was largely affected by, among other things, Iran’s unresolved nuclear programme.
Econometrix economist Tony Twine predicted a slightly higher hike, saying motorists could pay an extra 34c a litre.
”The major driver remains the dollar price of Brent crude oil. For May, it was exacerbated by the rand weakening,” he said.
Last month, many economists hoped that the rand’s strength would help cushion South African motorists but now that the rand has lost some value, it would be difficult.
Buoyed by the gold price’s 25-year-high surge in April, the rand strengthened to about R5,99 to the dollar but fell back to about R6,59 in May.
The petrol price went up by 39c a litre at the beginning of May, bringing the average cost of a litre of petrol to R6 in Gauteng.
In April, economists predicted that the price could rise by up to 55c a litre in May and June if the surge in the price of crude oil continued.
The Department of Minerals and Energy will release a statement on the matter on Friday, acting departmental spokesperson Siyabonga Kheswa said. — Sapa