South Africa’s inflation rate saw a modest increase in November, falling below market expectations due to subdued food price growth, potentially paving the way for another round of interest rate cuts by the central bank next month.
According to data released by Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa on Wednesday, the consumer price index in November rose by 2.9 percent year-on-year, slightly up from 2.8 percent recorded in October.
The inflationary pressures were primarily mitigated by the performance of food and non-alcoholic beverages prices, which experienced a notable deceleration in November.
The inflation rate for this category dropped to 2.3 percent from 3.6 percent in October, marking the lowest level recorded since December 2010.
Despite the marginal increase in the headline inflation figure, it remains below the central bank’s target range of 3 to 6 percent.
JN/APA