Statistics South Africa has reported that the consumer price inflation increased to 5.2% in November, from 5.1% in October 2018.
Contributions to the increase came from food, non-alcoholic beverages and fuel costs.
Analysts say the numerous fuel hikes in past months, combined with the slight weakening of the rand, increased the cost of imports.
Economist at Econometrix, Laura Campbell says inflation is expected to ease as fuel prices came down this month.
“So, because inflation increased in November, some might say this will increase the chances of interest rates increasing further. However, in December we are expecting a sharp decline in the fuel inflation rate, as we’ve had significant cuts in the fuel price this month. Just based solely on the expected decline in the fuel inflation rate in December, its likely that the CPI headline rate will come down by 4.4% in December.”
“So in the short term its possible that there will be no further hikes in interest rates,” adds Campbell.
