BusinessLive reports that consumer inflation accelerated slightly to 5.2% in November from 5.1% in October due to higher food prices and a spike in the price of diesel.
Statistics SA reported on Wednesday that November’s consumer price index (CPI) came to 109.6, up from 104.2 in October 2017 and 109.4 points in October 2018. Although inflation has remained well under the SA Reserve Bank’s 6% ceiling, the bank’s monetary policy committee has made it clear that it would prefer inflation around the 4.5% midpoint of the target range. In November, there was a substantially lower fuel price increase relative to the previous month, with only diesel increasing. Lower fuel price pressures should help bring inflation down in December. The food component of CPI showed inflation of 2.8%. Average fruit prices fell by 3.7% in November from the same month in 2017. Vegetable prices, however, rose 7.7%.
- Read Sunita Menon’s full report in this regard at BusinessLive
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