Petrol hikes hit inflation hard

Cape Town - South Africa’s inflation rate has increased to 4.5%, Statistics SA announced on Wednesday.

This is in line with the prediction The Inflation Factory’s (TIF) Riyadh Bhyat made to Fin24 on Tuesday. He mentioned that it was the result of continued petrol hikes.

Stats SA said the headline consumer price index (CPI) annual inflation rate in April 2015 was 4.5%, for all urban areas. In March it announced that CPI had increased to 4% year-on-year (y/y), ending six months of consecutive decreases in the y/y rate.

This rate was 0.5 of a percentage point higher than the corresponding annual rate of 4.% in March 2015. On average, prices rose by 0.9% between March 2015 and April 2015.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 0.5% between March 2015 and April 2015. The annual rate dropped to 5% in April 2015 from 5.8% in March 2015.

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The following components in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index went up: fruit (4.9%); vegetables (2.3%); sugar, sweets and desserts (1.3%); hot beverages (0.7%); milk, eggs and cheese (0.6%); cold beverages (0.6%); bread and cereals (0.4%); fish (0.3%) and meat (0.2%). The following food components decreased: other food (-1.7%) and oils and fats (-1.0%).

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The alcoholic beverages and tobacco index rose by 1.2% between March 2015 and April 2015. The annual rate increased to 9.6% in April 2015 from 9% in March 2015.

The transport index increased by 4.5% between March 2015 and April 2015, mainly due to a 156 cents per litre hike in the petrol price. The annual rate increased to -1.1% in April 2015 from -5% in March 2015.

The miscellaneous goods and services index increased by 0.2% between March 2015 and April 2015. The annual rate decreased to 7.3% in April 2015 from 7.5% in March 2015.

The provinces with an annual inflation rate lower than or equal to headline inflation were Gauteng (4.4%), Eastern Cape (4.3%), Mpumalanga (4.3%), Limpopo (4.3%) and KwaZulu-Natal (3.6%). The provinces with an annual inflation rate higher than headline inflation were Western Cape (5.2%), Free State (5%), Northern Cape (4.9%) and North West (4.8%).

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(Stats SA)