SA granted a much-needed respite at the fuel pump

FUEL prices will fall on Wednesday thanks to a drop in the price of crude oil and the relative stability of the rand-dollar exchange rate.

FUEL prices will fall on Wednesday thanks to a drop in the price of crude oil and the relative stability of the rand-dollar exchange rate.

The Department of Energy said on Friday the price of petrol would drop by 67c a litre and that of diesel by 25.38c a litre.

The government lowered the slate levy from 4.38c/litre to zero, but it approved an increase of 4.2c/litre in the retail margin for pump attendants and cashiers to get a 9% pay rise.

Econometrix chief economist Azar Jammine said that although the economy continued to be fragile, and the current account deficit remained a concern, global factors were conspiring to keep the fuel price and inflation stable.

This means that the respite may not be fleeting - but Jammine says we're riding our luck.

"If the rand and oil price stay where they are, we could expect very little change in October. There's unrest in the Middle East, yet the oil price has remained subdued. This is partly because exports from Libya have picked up," he said.

Jammine said it would appear that the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait had agreed to raise supplies.