BusinessLive reports that consumer inflation slowed to 3.8% in March, surprising economists who had expected it to accelerate slightly from February’s 4%.  

But, inflation is likely to rise in April when the increase in value added tax (VAT) took effect.  The slowdown in inflation in March, as measured by the annual change in the consumer price index (CPI), was helped by March’s 36c/litre drop in petrol and 47c/litre drop in diesel prices.  Statistics SA reported on Wednesday that the transport component of CPI fell 0.7% from February to January.  Over the year, transport was 2.8% more expensive.  The food component of CPI showed annual inflation of 3.6%, with deflation of 4.8% for bread and cereals mitigating a 10% rise in meat prices.

• A short report by Sunita Menon is at BusinessLive

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