By Des Erasmus
Annual consumer inflation edged up to 4.4% in August from 4.3% in July, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday, hours before the central bank meets over the latest interest-rate decision.
The increase was slightly below expectations, with a Reuters poll of economists having forecast headline inflation of 4.5%.
“Annual consumer inflation increased to 4,4% in August from 4,3% in July,” Stats SA said.
“The consumer price index (CPI) showed no monthly change.”
Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation accelerated for the first time in nine months, rising to 1.1% in August from 0.9% in July.
Higher annual inflation rates were recorded for several food categories, including fish and seafood, dairy products and eggs, vegetables and cold beverages.
Fish and seafood inflation climbed to 7.5% from 6.6% in July. Hake was 12% more expensive than a year earlier, while frozen fish fingers rose 11.3% and battered or crumbed fish increased 9.4%.
Pork prices continued to rise, with ham and bacon up 8.6% year-on-year and pork 6.6% higher, while beef remained cheaper than a year earlier. Stewing beef prices fell 5.3%, steak was down 3.9% and mince declined 3.8%.
Transport inflation eased slightly to 8.8% from 8.9% in July, as annual fuel inflation slowed to 20% from 20.6%.
Petrol prices fell 2% between July and August, while diesel prices increased by 3.1%.
Annual core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, eased to 4.1% in August.
The inflation figures were released hours before the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee was due to meet ahead of its latest interest-rate decision at 3pm.
The policy rate currently stands at 7% after the MPC voted in July to leave it unchanged. Four committee members supported holding the rate, while two favoured a 25-basis-point increase.
The Reserve Bank is targeting inflation of 3%, with a tolerance band of one percentage point on either side.
Most economists expect the MPC to raise the policy rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%.
The Reserve Bank said after its July meeting that inflation risks remained tilted to the upside, although it expected inflation to decline towards its 3% target over time.
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