Early Christmas gift as inflation falls to 9 year low
Consumers are in for an early Christmas surprise as prices of food and other essentials increased at a slower pace in November.
According to the latest figures released by Statistics South Africa on Wednesday, the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) dropped to 3.6 % in November from 3.7% in October.
This is the lowest in 9 years.
Chief Director for Price Statistics Patrick Kelly says this is the lowest annual increase since December 2010.
"This is the third successive month of disinflation which means that the pace of price increases in slowing down. This month's inflation rate since December 2010, almost nine years ago," says Kelly.
Efficient Group economist Francois Stofberg says while it's good news for the consumer, it's bad news for the economy.
"What it means for a consumer if you have low inflation, it means that the buying power of your rands don't deteriorate as fast.
"But it is bad news overall because the reason for this inflation is that we don't demand and we see that we see that on the very high levels of unemployment as well."
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