South Africa’s (SA) headline consumer inflation accelerated to 4.0% year on year in April, sharply higher than the previous month’s 3.1% reading, data from the statistics agency showed on Wednesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected annual inflation would accelerate to 3.9%, as the impact of the United States and Israel war against Iran fed through into prices.
Africa’s largest economy is highly exposed to rising global energy costs as it imports most of its fuel.
SA’s Central bank targets inflation of 3%, with a 1% point tolerance band either side.
Its next interest rate-setting meeting is on May 28, and many economists expect a hike after two consecutive “hold” decisions in January and March.
In month-on-month terms inflation was at 1.1% in April, compared with 0.6% in March.
–Reuters–
