Inflation increased to 5.1% for September 2017, according to data from Statistics South Africa. The consumer price index (CPI), released yesterday, shows that on average prices increased 0.5% between August and September. Inflation increased by 0.3 of a percentage point from the 4.8% annual rate reported in August.
Contributors to the annual CPI include food and non-alcoholic beverages; the index increased by 5.5% year-on-year (y/y). Housing and utilities increased by 4.9% y/y and transport increased by 5.6% y/y. The index for miscellaneous goods and services increased by 7.6% y/y. The CPI for goods increased by an annual rate of 4.4%, up from 4% in August and the CPI for services increased by 5.8%, up from 5.6% in August.
In light of the economy being in a technical recession, this will pose a challenge for the Monetary Committee of the Reserve Bank in their next meeting to discuss the interest rates.