Unleaded petrol prices in the Illawarra are tipped to fall more than 20 cents a litre by Christmas.
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NRMA spokeswoman Rebecca Page said prices should start falling now from an average of 142.9 cents and reach around 120 cents by Christmas.
The price could even fall a few cents further through to New Year’s Day.
While there is the common belief that petrol prices rise heading into Christmas, Ms Page said there was “no external reason” to explain why a station’s prices would be high this festive season.
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“If the wholesale price continues to fail, which we believe it will, the only reason retailers would be selling for more is to increase their profit margin, which at this time of year really is unfair,” Ms Page said.
“It creates a further burden on families.”
Ms Page warned petrol retailers to avoid “jacking up” their prices at Christmas time.
“Our advice to the retailers would be think very carefully about the margins that they’re setting at this time of year, especially in the regional areas where they don’t have as many public transport options as they do in the city,” Ms Page said.
“It’s not a nice time of the year to be jacking up those profit margins unnecessarily.”