April consumer inflation unchanged at 5.9%
Headline consumer inflation remained unchanged month-on-month at 5.9% in April, Statistics South Africa announced on Wednesday.
The latest figure shows inflation remains stubbornly close to the South African Reserve Bank’s upper target rate of 6%.
“This is the third time in five months that the annual rate was 5,9%, testing the 6% upper limit of the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy target range,” Stats SA said in a statement.
“The last time that headline inflation was above the target range was five years ago, when the rate was 6,1% in March 2017.”
The price of fuel continues to be the biggest driver of inflation.
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In April 2021, a litre of 95 Octane petrol was trading at R17.32 compared to R21.91 during the same period in 2022.
While diesel increased from R16.46 to R21.91 per litre in the same period.
The price of petrol is again set to increase in June, with analysts predicting that motorists could pay as much as R3 more for a litre of petrol.
