Inflation surges to 4% in April, the highest in 18 months
Consumer inflation has accelerated in April, spelling tough times ahead for consumers.
Date Statistics South Africa shows annual consumer price inflation was 4% in the month, up from 3.1% in March.
The reading is well above the Reserve Bank’s target of 3%.
The higher inflation rate will likely lead to the central bank hiking the repo rate to bring it closer to the target.
The main contributors to the 4% annual inflation rate were housing and utilities, transport, insurance and financial services.
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased by 1.1% in April.
On utilities, price changes were greater at 8.2% for electricity, gas and other fuels, while Water supply and miscellaneous services rose at 7%.
Under the transport category in the month, prices of both 95 and 93 grades of petrol went up by R3.02 cents per litre, while diesel went up by over R7 per litre.
This is due to the higher oil prices recorded as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, which has seen a disruption to global supply chains.
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