26 December,2011 08:31 AM IST | | Agencies
You may have to welcome the New Year by paying more to the bunk attendent, as petrol price may be hiked by a rupee. This is because the imports have become costlier following the rupee getting weak against the US dollar.
However, the rate change may need a political clearance as assembly elections in five crucial states have been announced by the Election Commission a couple of days ago.
The average exchange rate in first fortnight of December was Rs 51.98 to a US dollar, which has further deteriorated. State-owned oil companies use fortnightly average of benchmark oil price and exchange rate to revise retail rates on 1st and 16th of every month.
The next review is due on December 31 and if the oil companies decide to pass on the exchange rate fluctuations to consumers, the new rates would be effective from January 1.
