BL Premium reports that food price inflation in SA is likely to remain in double digits this year even as global food inflation continues to ease.

According to Tracy Davids of the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), domestic consumers will remain under pressure for some time as they face high food and energy prices while experiencing persistently slow increases in real income. “World food prices have come down, but in SA this decline has been offset by a weaker exchange rate. Going forward food prices will continue to be influenced by a number of uncertainties, including extreme weather events and load-shedding,” she said at the launch of the bureau’s 10-year agriculture market outlook for SA on Wednesday. Though lower global agricultural commodity prices are likely to filter through to local markets in the latter part of the year, SA is likely to experience only a modest easing in food inflation, she said. With grain and meat prices easing, food inflation could slow to below 10% for the year from 12.4% in 2022. But the gains of lower commodity prices are likely to be offset by the effects of load-shedding and exchange rate depreciation. As a result, double-digit inflation rates could persist in 2023, reaching about 13%, the bureau indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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