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Inflation

Inflation for September is in line with expectations, at 5%, reports Casey Delport, investment analyst at Anchor Capital, on this week’s figures from Statssa. “The increase was again driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, and transport. While food costs still form a key driver, they are beginning to moderate off the back of relatively stable crop prices, although meat prices remain sticky. The quarterly inclusion of the weighty rental inflation survey made this release more important than most – rental inflation is seen as one of the barometers of demand-pull inflation pressure. Overall, we believe that inflation will generally drift sideways over the next six months. It is worth remembering that inflation is still well within the SA Reserve Bank’s target band of 3%-6%.”