INFLATION soared in April, with the annual increase in CPIX up 6,3%, breaching the top of the Reserve Bank's target range for the first time in nearly four years, and sealing the case for an interest rate hike at the central bank's policy meeting next week. Headline consumer inflation (CPI), a broader measure which includes home loans, accelerated to 7,0% in April from 6,1% in March - its highest since May 2003, according to Statistics SA. Rising food and fuel prices were the main culprits but core inflation - which excludes those components - leapt by an annual 5,9% versus 4,9% in March, a development which economists said pointed to "second-round" inflation effects which the central bank could not ignore. Food prices rose by an annual rate of 8,4% in April, up from 7,7% in March - a worrying trend for SA's poor majority, who spend most of their income on food. Transport costs accelerated 7,7% from 4,6% in March, mainly reflecting higher domestic fuel prices, which have climbed more than 17% so far this year in response to rising global oil prices and the weaker rand. Full article... http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A479442
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