#Budget2019: South African fuel taxes to increase by 30 cents

File picture: Karen Sandison / African News Agency (ANA).

File picture: Karen Sandison / African News Agency (ANA).

Published Feb 20, 2019

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Johannesburg - South African motorists should brace for more fuel price increases in the coming months.

Not only are higher international oil prices and a weakening rand putting pressure on the fuel price equation, but fuel taxes are also set to rise from April.

During his 2019 Budget Speech, delivered on Wednesday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced that fuel levies would increase by 29 cents a litre in the case of petrol and 30 cents a litre for diesel.

The hikes will however be implemented in stages, with the first 20 cents coming into effect from the beginning of April, this being a combination of a 15 cent hike in the general fuel levy and 5 cents for the Road Accident Fund. The remaining 9 cents a litre for petrol and 10 c/l for diesel will only come into effect in June as a carbon tax.

R15 a litre is not far off

A litre of 95 Unleaded currently costs R13.49 at the coast and R14.08 inland, where 93 Unleaded retails at R13.86.

But high international oil prices and a weak rand during during the month of February mean that South Africans will likely be paying at least another 60 cents a litre (or possibly more) for petrol from the beginning of March, while the diesel price increase is expected to exceed 80 cents.

Should oil prices fail to retreat, there could be another moderate increase in April, over and above the aforementioned 20 cents a litre tax hike. This could bring the price of a litre of fuel in Gauteng to somewhere in the region of R15 a litre once again.

IOL Motoring

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