SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Russia's invasion of Ukraine is happening halfway across the world, but the impacts will be felt in the wallets of San Diegans.
"Fuel is definitely going to go up, you're going to see cost of goods and groceries go up even more, it's definitely going to hit people and businesses in the pocketbooks," said Keith Erwood, co-founder of the Erwood Group, which consults businesses on crisis situations.
Price increases have been part of life in San Diego over the past year, with inflation at a 40-year-high of 8.2 percent.
First, the Covid outbreak led to major supply chain issues that pushed up prices.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a barrel of oil to surpass $100 for the first time since 2014. That hits California, which imports about half of its crude oil.
On Thursday, The Auto Club reported the average price for a gallon of gas in the county hit a record $4.78. Erwood says he could see that going up to even $6 or $7 locally, higher in other parts of the state.
That would further increase the cost to transport goods such as food to grocery stores and ingredients to restaurants, which would be passed along to consumers.
