Relief as inflation falls below 6%
Annual consumer price inflation slowed dramatically to 5.4% in June from 6.3% in May.
The last time consumer inflation was within the Reserve Bank's target range of 4% to 6% was more than a year ago. This may help to convince the monetary policy committee not to hike interest rates on Thursday.
June's inflation data was also the lowest level in 20 months, Statistics SA reported. The CPI increased by only 0.2% from April to June 2023.
The annual inflation rate for goods was 6.3%, down from 8.0% in May and for services it was 4.5%, down from 4.6% in May.
Lower fuel prices contributed to the much softer inflation number, with annual transport inflation tumbling from 7.0% in May to 1,8% in June, dragged lower mainly by softer fuel prices. The fuel index was 8.3% lower in June 2023 than in June 2022.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages prices also cooled for the third month in a row – from 14% in March to 11% in June. Most food categories saw slower price growth, with some products actually becoming cheaper - the average price of a 750 ml bottle of sunflower oil was R35.57 in June, from almost R44 a year ago, for example.
However, Statistics SA reports that prices for sugar, sweets and desserts increased from 11.9% to 16.4%. Prices for brown sugar (+17.4%), white sugar (up 17.1%) and chocolate slabs (up 16.2%) saw the biggest hikes. Wine (+9.4%) and beer (+5.5%) prices also saw sharper increases.
The latest CPI number shows that residential rent increased by 2.7% in June compared to a year ago. Over the past quarter, rent prices increased by 1.2% - the biggest hike in almost five years.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation