‘Load shedding to blame for food inflation’

JOHANNESBUrg — Economists said the latest inflation reading came as a surprise — following previous decreases in the rate.

Statistics South Africa on Wednesday announced that inflation edged higher to 7% for February as load shedding continued to add to the cost of food production.

This is the first increase in four months. The biggest contributor to the rising inflation is red-hot food prices.

consumer inflation dropped from 7.4% to 7.2% in December 2022. It dropped again in January, down to 6.9% making it the lowest reading since last May.

But this time around, economists had projected it would either remain the same or continue to cool for a fourth consecutive month.

Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego said load shedding was among the factors to blame for the 13.6% rise in food inflation - which accounts for the largest portion of the total consumer inflation.

Econometrix economist Azar Jammine said it’s also worrying that the core inflation rate, which excludes food and fuel, also came in higher.

—EWN