BusinessLive reports that Statistics SA advised on Wednesday that consumer inflation slid lower in October, reaching its lowest level in eight years.  

The consumer price index (CPI) slowed to 3.7% in October, down from 4.1% in September.  The last time it hit levels that low was in February 2011.  The slowdown was largely driven by declines in fuel prices, which fell 4.9% between October 2019 and the same month in 2018, said Stats SA.  The main contributors to inflation were increases in food and nonalcoholic beverages with annual inflation at 3.6%, housing and utilities at 4.8%, and miscellaneous goods and services at 5.7%.  The level of the slowdown could bolster arguments for an interest-rate cut.  Headline inflation has been sitting at or below the 4.5% midpoint of the SA Reserve Bank’s target range for all of 2019.  The economy is expected to grow by only 0.6% in 2019, weighed down by dismal business confidence, rising joblessness and poor income growth.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lynley Donnelly at BusinessLive

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