South Africa inflation eases in March
South Africa’s inflation fell to 5.3% year on year in March in a sign that Africa’s most industrialized economy was winning the battle to bring down prices.
Headline consumer inflation stood at 5.6% in February after reaching 5.3% in January, data from the statistics agency showed on Wednesday.
Even then, South Africa’s central bank which targets inflation of between 3% and 6%, is not expected to announce interest rate cuts soon.
The bank has kept its main interest rate unchanged at 8.25% for some months.
On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth outlook for South Africa, taking its GDP growth projections for the country for 2024 to just 0.9%.
It is a revision down from 1% the lender assessed in January. South Africa’s GDP outlook is the second lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa, with only Equatorial Guinea coming in lower (0.5%).
South Africa’s economy, already weakened by the pandemic, has suffered multiple crises ranging from large scale power and water cuts, floods and widespread infrastructure failures.
The IMF says that the country will continue to battle inflation and high unemployment this year.
