Inflation falls to 4.5% for December

Annual headline consumer price inflation moderated to 4.5% for December, according to Statistics South Africa. 

This is down 0.7 of a percentage point from the inflation rate of 5.2% in November. Inflation for October was 5.1%.  

"On average, prices decreased by 0.2% between November 2018 and December 2018," Stats SA said.

Ahead of the announcement on Wednesday morning analysts had estimated that inflation would range between 4.3% and 4.5% on the back of a substantial decline in fuel costs.

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In December petrol and diesel prices fell by 184 cents per litre and 145c/l respectively. 

• READ: Kganyago: Anchoring inflation at 4.5% will allow flexibility to deal with shocks

Stats SA also announced that average annual consumer price inflation for the whole of 2018 was 4.7%,  0.6 of a percentage point lower than the corresponding average of 5.3% in 2017. 

In an earlier interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos, Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said that if inflation was at the midpoint of the bank’s targeted range between 3% to 6%, this would allow flexibility to deal with shocks.