Johannesburg - South Africa’s inflation rate was unchanged at 5.9 percent in October, staying in the central bank’s 3 percent to 6 percent target range for a second month.
Prices rose 0.2 percent in the month, the Pretoria-based statistics office said on its website today.
The median estimate of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg for the annual rate was also 5.9 percent.
Africa’s second-largest economy is forecast to expand at the slowest pace this year since the 2009 recession after labour strikes forced mines and factories to temporarily halt operations.
Brent crude prices have fallen by about 30 percent since June, helping to contain consumer-price increases.
The Reserve Bank will decide on borrowing costs tomorrow after leaving its benchmark repurchase rate unchanged at 5.75 percent in September.
“Inflationary pressures have abated reflecting recent food and fuel price developments,” Kamilla Kaplan, an economist at Investec in Johannesburg, said in an e-mailed note before the data was released.
The core inflation rate, which excludes food, non-alcoholic beverages, gasoline and electricity costs, rose to 5.7 percent in October from 5.6 percent in the previous month. - Bloomberg News