CPI rises to 6.2% in January

[newsroom]

Pretoria - The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose marginally to 6.2 percent in January, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.

"On average, prices increased by 0.3 percent between December 2009 and January 2010," said Stats SA.

CPI in December came in at 6.3 percent still falling outside the inflation target band.

In January the food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 0.7 percent between December 2009 and January 2010 while the transport annual rate increased to 6.2 percent in January from 3.4 percent in December 2009.

According to Stats SA, the monthly index decreased by 0.4 percent between December 2009 and January 2010 due to a decrease in the price of petrol (9c/l decrease in 93 octane and 6c/l decrease in 95 octane).

"The good news is that January is likely to be the last month that inflation will be above the target band - at least for this year," Nedbank economist Carmen Altenkirch told BuaNews.

Altenkirch said some upward pressure over the month likely came from services although this was likely offset by a further decline in prices of some durable goods like cars and lower petrol prices.

"Demand-side inflationary pressures in the economy are likely to remain subdued during the remainder of the year, although inflation is not expected to fall much below 5 percent," Altenkirch said. – BuaNews