From Commsec comes news today that Australian petrol prices are near a six-year high, although some mild relief is in sight:
According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol rose by 5.0 cents a litre to 157.6 c/l in the week to March 9. The metropolitan price rose by 6.3 c/l to 157.5 c/l, while the regional average price rose by 2.5 c/l to 157.9 c/l.
Today, the national average wholesale (terminal gate) unleaded petrol price stands at 147.15 c/l, up around 0.6 cents over the week. The wholesale price has broadly held between 144-148 cents a litre in 2014.
Last week the key Singapore unleaded petrol price rose by US35c (0.3 per cent) to US$121.25 a barrel. In Australian dollar terms the Singapore gasoline price fell by $1.71 last week to $133.42 a barrel or 83.91 cents a litre…
Retail prices are expected to ease mildly over the coming fortnight.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
