The fuel price is set to drop by more than R1 a litre next week. The dip comes as the country prepares for a national lockdown of three weeks.

Veteran economist Dr Azar Jammine predicted the sizeable fuel price decrease after the price of brent crude oil, a primary raw material in the manufacturing of petrol, diesel and jet fuel, among other types of fuel, plummeted in recent weeks  - owing to several developed economies being also on a lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The rand, when compared to major international currencies, has also been pummelled, and now hovers around R17 to the US dollar, and R20 to the pound.

"The decrease is going to be quite substantial, it should be over R1 a litre," said Jammine during an interview with SowetanLIVE on Wednesday evening.

He added that if the world economy continued to remain on a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, the fuel price could see a larger decrease in May.

Ramaphosa announced the lockdown on Monday to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases rose to 709 yesterday.

The lockdown, which starts on Thursday midnight, will last for 21 days and will force members of the public to stay at home.

However, those in industries that provide essential services, like law enforcement agents, workers in the healthcare, banking, and grocery stores, would be exempted from the confinement.

The fuel price decrease in May would add more relief to debt-ridden consumers, especially after the SA Reserve Bank last week announced it was slashing interest rate by 100 basis points due to the threat the novel Covid-19 posed on world economies.