Brent oil has dropped more than 30 per cent from this year’s high, but you wouldn’t know it if you live in Paris, Mumbai or Accra.
The decline in the global oil benchmark from nearly $128 a barrel has dovetailed with a jump in the dollar of about 15 per cent over the same period. That means fuel prices remain a significant factor driving up the cost of living across most of the world.
Oil-demand powerhouses like China, India and the European Union have all seen smaller real-term declines in crude prices than benchmarks would suggest. And for some emerging markets like Sri Lanka, the impact of a spiraling oil price and collapsing currency has already shown up in the form of near-total economic collapse.
