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South Africa’s inflation remained well below the midpoint of the central bank’s target range in December, even as the rate rose for the first time in four months.
Consumer-price growth quickened to 4percent compared with 3,6 percent in November, the Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said yesterday in a statement on its website.
That matched the median estimate of 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Inflation averaged 4,1 percent in 2019, in line with the forecast the Reserve Bank published last week. Prices rose 0,3 percent in the month.
Inflation has now been at or below the 4,5 percent midpoint of the target range for 13 months, the longest such streak in 14 years.
The central bank wants inflation expectations anchored close to the midpoint of it target range of 3 percent to 6 percent. While yesterday’s data show muted price growth, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said last week the monetary policy committee sees the rate averaging 4,7 percent this year before stabilising at 4,5 percent from the third quarter of 2021. — Bloomberg.
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