THE general fuel levy will be cut by R1.50 per litre from Wednesday next week to 31 May 2022, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced on Thursday.

This will reduce the levy for petrol from R3.85 per litre to R2.35 per litre. The levy on diesel will be reduced from R3.70 per litre to R2.20 per litre.

Around R6 billion of the state’s strategic oil reserves will be sold to fund this tax hit, which means it won’t impact government debt. In addition, the government plans these changes in fuel prices from 1 June.

Petrol prices have climbed by more than 30% over the past year due to surging oil prices, and large hikes were in store for next week.

According to the latest data from the Central Energy Fund, 95 octane petrol was set to increase by R1.81/litre, 93 octane is expected to climb by R1.73/l, diesel by between R2.97/l and R3.12/l on Wednesday next week. Following the temporary cut to the general fuel levy, petrol prices will rise by only around 23c to 31c. fin24.com