Reuters reports that consumer inflation in SA is set to rise to 8% this year, thereby overshooting the central bank’s target amid the global impact of the Ukraine conflict and rising US interest rates.

This was forecast by credit rating agency Moody in a report on Wednesday. Moody’s said inflation was set to be higher than the SA Reserve Bank’s 3-6% target range this year, before falling in 2023 and 2024, with the central bank likely to continue to tighten monetary policy after it raised interest rates in March. Moody’s cited risks to the country’s economy from highly indebted state-owned companies such as power utility Eskom, a rigid labour market and high social spending. “The electricity sector poses the greatest risks to economic growth prospects, with generation capacity already insufficient to cover the economy’s needs,” Moody’s indicated in the report. Power outages implemented by Eskom have constrained economic growth in Africa’s most industrialised country for more than a decade. Moody’s upgraded SA’s outlook from “negative” to “stable” in April, keeping the government’s Ba2 rating and stating that high commodity prices and fiscal consolidation would help to stabilise debt at around 80% of GDP in the medium term.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Rachel Savage at Moneyweb

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