South Africa’s inflation increases
StatsSA announced that inflation rose by 0.1% in February. This is the first time inflation has increased since October 2022.
The inflation rate now stands at 7%, up from 6.9% in January.
The latest inflation figures place inflation well above South Africa’s target band of between 3% and 6%. South Africa has not been within that band since May 2022.
The South African Reserve Bank hiked interest rates eight consecutive times to try and curtail inflation. The repo rate currently stands at 7.25%, and the prime lending rate is at 10.75%.
The main contributors to the inflation increase were food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 13.6% compared to the previous year and contributed 2.3% to the total CPI annual rate of 7%.
The 9.9% increase in transport costs over the year pushed the figure up 1.4%.
The latest inflation figures supported views from economists that the country can expect another interest rate increase this month.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is expected to increase interest rates by 25 basis points as it nears the end of the interest-rate hiking cycle.
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