Business
Spend money on petrol to travel; or save money for 2023?─── TSHEHLA KOTELI 14:20 Tue, 01 Nov 2022
Weeks before South Africans take time to travel for the December holidays, a petrol price hike is looming after three months of dropping.
As of 2 November 2022, a litre of both grades of petrol will increase by 51 cents, while a litre of diesel will increase by R1.42. It is estimated that there will also be a hike in December. An economist believes it is time for people to choose between travelling for holidays and saving money.
Speaking to Dr Arno van Niekerk, economist and senior lecturer at the University of the Free State (UFS), he says as a litre of petrol will now cost motorists R22.57 (93 Petrol) and R22.87 (95 Petrol), some people will have to choose between spending their money on petrol or actually saving for the uncertainties of 2023.
ALSO READ: Petrol price decreases for third month in a row
The hike comes while some people in the country are planning their holiday trips. Van Niekerk believes it is time for South Africans to choose between saving and luxury. “As much as a holiday is needed after working hard all year long, it is advisable to look into whether one can truly afford it. I would suggest people treat this coming holiday as normal as possible in order to save more money because prices might raise as time goes on.” He adds that the hikes do not come as a surprise, especially with diesel still in demand.
ALSO READ: These factors determine the petrol price, says economist
Van Niekerk also explains one of the reasons why the increase does not come as a big shock to him is because of the momentum of the rising inflation. “Another factor is the rand that has been struggling against the dollar and also the price of crude oil has been increasing since the end of September 2022.” However, he still believes that there is a possibility of the inflation rate stabilising, or even dropping, by the end of 2022 or in 2023, but one can never go wrong with saving to prepare for any outcome.
“It is important that we bring down the debt levels. If we can decrease our debt level, it will help to bring down the interest rate on debt so I would recommend that any bonuses or big payouts must be allocated to paying our debt or saving. Let this be a festive season of saving because one cannot be too sure what the following year will bring,” concludes Van Niekerk.
