Business News: South Africa's Inflation Rate May Not Result in an Interest Hike
- The country's inflation rate has increased to reach a 30-month high, however, the possibility of an interest rate hike any time soon is still low
- In April, the recorded consumer price was 4.4%, which rose to 5.2% by May, almost a year before it should have reached that point
- The aforementioned consumer price matched the estimates made by 15 economists some time ago and is above the 4.5% midpoint
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The increase in the country's inflation rate to a 30-month high is not likely to bring any interest rate hike forward due to the central bank forecasting a second-quarter price growth spike.
The consumer price rose by 5.2% in May after an entire year before it should have, in comparison with the 4.4% recorded in April. This is according to a statement by Statistics South Africa on its website.
This matched the median of the estimates given by 15 economists and was above the midpoint of 4.5% from the central bank's target range for the first time in around 15 months.
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BusinessTech reported that the quarterly projection model from the Reser Bank in May showed at the time that inflation would reach around 4.5% if the monetary policy committee anchors the price growth in the second and fourth quarters.
Africa economist at Bloomberg, Boingotlo Gasealahwe, stated that the predicted inflation outlook helps their expectation that the central bank will keep rates unchanged throughout the year. This is due to an improved recovery, which may bring about an increase by the fourth quarter.
Small businesses in Pietermaritzburg up for major government investment
Previously, Briefly News reported that over 1 000 small businesses in Pietermaritzburg received a massive R322 million support from the local government. The disbursement of funds is taking place under the KwaZulu-Natal government's operation Vula Fund.
The Vula Fund has been in the works for four years. The KZN government authorities praised the event which happened on Tuesday as a chunk of the development of radical socio-economical alteration.
KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala stated that the small businesses that gained the funds were specifically selected from over 4 000 applicants. Zikalala said there was a meticulous examining process that started in September 2019 and concluded in March 2020.
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Source: Briefly News
