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Feeling vulnerable? You probably should be‚ according to the latest AA petrol price forecast

If you’re feeling a bit touchy about domestic politics‚ you probably should be.

South African fuel consumers are vulnerable to politics since it affects the local currency and‚ by extension‚ petrol prices‚ the Automobile Association said on Monday.

“The latest data continues to show how vulnerable South African fuel users are to political and economic sentiment which negatively affects the rand‚” the AA said.

“We are not ruling out a further deterioration in the fuel price picture ahead of month end.”

The AA said more petrol price hikes could be on the cards‚ given that the weaker rand had stripped away the impact of lower international oil prices.

“Softer international petrol prices have been offset by a declining rand since the start of October‚ while diesel and illuminating paraffin prices were slightly up‚ leaving them with no protection against rand weakness‚” the AA said in a statement.

“The landed price of petrol has dropped by almost 20 cents a litre since the start of October.

“Unfortunately‚ rand weakness against the US dollar saw an impact of 22 cents a litre‚ neutralising the fuel price gains and giving a petrol price increase of two cents a litre based on the current data.”

The AA said diesel had “taken an even bigger blow‚ as the international price of diesel had risen by up to six cents a litre“.

“Including the effects of rand weakness‚ diesel is showing a potential price rise at the end of October of around 28 cents a litre‚ with illuminating paraffin set to rise 20 cents‚” the AA said.

The rand was stable on Monday morning after a strong rally over the past week. At 9.25am‚ the rand was at R13.3037 to the dollar from R13.2984.

The rand hit 3.2525/dollar on Friday‚ its strongest level since September 25‚ helped by a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment against President Jacob Zuma.

The rand last Monday fell to a six-month low of 13.8650 to the dollar‚ according to Reuters.

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