XM Australia's CEO Peter McGuire on Friday said that he expects consumers to have a tough couple of months going ahead as the crude prices have been on an upward trend over the last few of weeks.

“It has been an enormous rally and I saw that across base metals overnight as well. We have got China pump $17 billion into the Evergrande concerns, we have massive issues as far as inflation story is concerned and we have got supply issues. So, this isn't a good sign for the consumer,” he said, adding that consumers are really going to have a tough couple of months ahead, which is not a good sign for overall economic conditions.

Also Read: Crude oil prices may drop to $60 range by end of 2022, says JPMorgan

McGuire expects crude to go above $80 per barrel in the short term. "At the moment, crude prices seem to be onward and upward with the inflation story and that really impacts crude oil prices,” he explained.

His remarks come as Brent crude has increased to nearly $78 a barrel in the international markets, owing to demand crude amid increased economic activities, Reuters reported.

Watch the video for more.

(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)