South Africa Economic Outlook: Inflation Rises To 7.1% For Second Straight Month - News Central

Data from Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday that headline consumer inflation rose for the second month in a row in March, to 7.1 per cent year on year from 7.0 per cent in February. Analysts had predicted a drop to 6.9 per cent on a month-on-month basis, as consumer inflation rose to 1.0 per cent from 0.7 per cent. Inflation has remained stubbornly high in Africa's most industrialised economy since peaking in July 2022 at 7.8 per cent, leading to a run of interest rate hikes from the central bank. At its last meeting in March, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) surprised analysts with a larger-than-anticipated 50 basis point hike.