South Africa's inflation eases to 6.8 pct in April

Xinhua
24 May 2023, 21:35 GMT+10

JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's annual consumer inflation slowed to 6.8 percent in April from 7.1 percent in March, data from the Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday.

The figure represents the lowest reading since May 2022, when the inflation rate was 6.5 percent, the department said.

Annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages eased to 13.9 percent in April from 14 percent in the previous month, the data showed.

In April, vegetables in South Africa were 23.1 percent more expensive than the same period last year, representing the highest annual rate since November 2007, according to the department.

Transport recorded its ninth successive month of disinflation in April, softening to 7.6 percent, which was mainly due to the easing of fuel prices.

Despite the inflation drop, economists continued to anticipate a repo rate hike. "While the data in April was a comfort for consumers, a rise in the repo rate was unavoidable," said Dawie Roodt, an economist from the Efficient Group, a South African wealth management company.

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