Fuel prices are adjusted on the first Wednesday of every month. This means that petrol stations are either swamped or empty on the Tuesday evening as motorists try to either fill up their tanks with the lower priced fuel or hang on until Wednesday morning to receive the new prices.
Each change in price will have an impact on your monthly budget - not only from the cost of fuel changes, but from the knock-on effect that it has on the prices of consumer goods!
Last month I shared an article on the petrol price decrease for May. In the article, I wrote the following:
“However, every few months we have been receiving a reprieve in the pump figures. As all the local news channels have been reporting, "Consumers are likely to breathe a sigh of relief, albeit temporarily, as the domestic petrol price is set to decrease next week."
Well, the petrol price did drop, and it will be dropping again on Wednesday, but this will most likely be undone in July.
As News24 wrote:
The retail price of petrol will decrease by 8 cents a litre next Wednesday (June 5, 2013), while diesel will fall by 3.98 cents a litre.
However, the government warned that this month's weakness in the rand - now down at four-year lows - would affect July prices.
"The department would like to take this opportunity to caution that the impact of the weaker currency will be felt in the July adjustment," the energy ministry said in a statement.
And IOL had this to report:
The petrol price is set to drop by eight cents a litre on Wednesday June 5, but motorists could be in for some pain the following month as the department of energy warns that the impact of the rand's latest plunge will be reflected in July.
June's reduction will see the price of 95-octane unleaded petrol dropping to R12.39 in Gauteng, while a litre of 93-octane will now cost R12.16. 500ppm diesel falls to R11.37 and 50ppm to R11.41.
Those at the coast will pay R12.02 for a litre of 95 petrol and R11.10 for 500ppm diesel.
The energy department explained that the international petrol and diesel prices dropped by a big enough margin to offset the fall in the rand, which depreciated from an average of R9.16 during the April review period to R9.30 during May.
The rand is currently trading at around R10.13… unless the local currency stages something of a major comeback, a substantial increase could be on the cards for July.
Perhaps it’s time to consider your transport situation and your budget! If you’d like to meet and get some solid advice, click on my contact page and send me a message.