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2025-09-17 16:19:05
South Africa's inflation unexpectedly slowed to 3.3% in August, leaving the central bank with more room to cut interest rates. ⑴ South Africa's headline consumer inflation rose 3.3% year-on-year in August, unexpectedly slowing from 3.5% in July and below the 3.6% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. ⑵ This marked the third consecutive month that inflation remained within the central bank's 3%-6% target range, near the lower end of that range. ⑶ Well-controlled inflation has enabled the South African Reserve Bank to cut interest rates in three of its four policy meetings this year. ⑷ At its July meeting, the central bank lowered its inflation target from the midpoint of 4.5% to the lower end of the range of 3%. ⑸ The market expects the central bank to maintain the repurchase rate at 7% on Thursday to push inflation closer to its new 3% target. ⑹ Month-on-month inflation was -0.1% in August, a significant slowdown from 0.9% in July. ⑺ Core inflation, excluding food and energy, was 3.1% year-on-year, in line with analyst expectations.
