Petrol price plateaus, according to economist

Date Published : Tuesday, August 26, 2008

CommSec economist Craig James has claimed that the falling price of petrol at the pump is at an end.

The trend of slowly falling petrol costs over the last few weeks has finished and prices are likely to hover around the $1.50 mark, the analyst claimed.

Mr James stated that the typical motorist is now "forking out about $209 a month on petrol".

This equates to a saving of around $20 compared to prices in the middle of July but is still $40 a month more than the driver would have been paying at this time last year.

The economist, citing figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum, said the national average price of unleaded fuel is $1.49.

"Based on trends in the wholesale market, the average pump price looks set to consolidate near $1.50 a litre," Mr James added.

Mr James said that in the majority of capital cities "petrol prices crept higher in the latest week" following the quick fall during the past four weeks that will have helped ease the pressure on people with mortgage worries or heavy personal loan repayments.

Meanwhile, the government's FuelWatch scheme, which will aim to provide the motoring public with up-to-date information on fuel prices when it is launched, is drawing increased criticism.

The scheme wants to see petrol prices locked for a 24-hour period every day, effectively banning retailers from changing the price of fuel during the day.

South Australia's Royal Automobile Association said that banning the intra-day price movements will see motorists "pay more at the pump, particularly those thousands of motorists that already shop smart and take advantage of the weekly discount cycle.''

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