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Bloomberg reports that SA’s consumer inflation rate climbed to a four-month high in February, likely cementing the SA Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) resolve to keep borrowing costs on hold when it meets next week.
The consumer price index rose to 5.6% in February from a year earlier, compared with 5.3% the prior month, Statistics SA reported on Wednesday. The uptick in inflation means the rate has moved further away from the 4.5% midpoint of the SARB’s target range, where it prefers to anchor expectations. It also comes a day after data showed average inflation expectations for this year and next remain above that midpoint. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago has repeatedly said that until inflation retreats to 4.5% in a sustainable manner and settles there, the central bank would be unwilling to adjust its policy stance. February’s price-growth was largely driven by higher transport costs, housing & utilities and food and non-alcoholic beverages. Core inflation, which excludes the cost of food, non-alcoholic drinks, fuel and electricity, quickened to 5% from 4.6% in January as rising health-insurance costs filtered into the data. The annual rate for health insurance rose to 12.9% and premiums for all types of insurance increased by 9.5% over the past year.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntando Thukwana at Moneyweb
See too, Inflation up again in February, at The Citizen
En ook, Inflasie styg wéér, by Maroela Media
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page