Professor and academic at the North West University (NWU), Daniel Meyer, tells OFM News he doesn’t foresee the price of oil moving too far out of the $70 to $73 (dollars) per barrel range. He says this as oil is currently trading at $69,10 (dollars) amidst the ongoing trade war between the United States of America (USA) and China as well as rising tensions between the former and Iraq, both of whom are oil producing nations. Meyer explains the stabilisation of the oil markets does not necessarily bode well for South Africa - primarily due to the country’s weakening economy - as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is cutting oil supply to prevent another supply glut.

“I think the current economic environment is very weak with all of the main sectors struggling, like agriculture, mining, tourism, and unemployment is also rising. So, if we say there is a cut in supply from Opec, I think we need to talk about the global situation.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed the Carbon Tax Bill into law, adding nine cents per litre of petrol to already burdened South African motorists and households.

According to Meyer, the country’s economy is still in a critical state despite inflation for the April month slowing down from 4,5% in March to 4,4% in April, to the surprise of many analysts following several months of fuel hikes. Inflation figures – defined as the rate at which prices increase over time - were revealed by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) a week before the country’s economic growth figures are released. He predicts that when the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) figure for the first quarter is released, it will reveal what he deems to be a “big” negative growth.

OFM News