Fuel prices set to drop in April
The price of diesel is going down at midnight on Tuesday, while we can expect only a slight change in the cost of petrol.
Department of Energy spokesperson Robert Maake says price adjustments were influenced by the depreciating rand against the dollar and the international petroleum product prices.
"Petrol (93 ULP & LRP): 1.00 c/l decrease. Petrol (95 ULP & LRP): 2.00 c/l increase. Diesel (0.05% sulphur): 73.58 c/l decrease. Diesel (0.005% sulphur): 74.58 c/l decrease. Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): 124.90 c/l decrease. SMNRP for IP: 201.00 c/l decrease. Maximum LPGas Retail Price: 92.00 c/kg decrease."
Ester Ochse, Product Head at FNB, says the change in prices will firstly impact food prices significantly.
"For instances, 3kgs of maize meal has gone up 26 percent. Cooking oil has gone up 16 percent, brown bread has also gone up significantly which does show that the consumer will then have a decrease in the amount of disposable income that they have due to the fact that they are spending so much more on things like food in order to make ends meets.
"Therefore, it is a time that the consumer needs to get back to basics, have a look at where their spending is going and see where they could potentially rationalise some of their spending in order to make those ends meet."
