{"id":97652,"date":"2026-04-23T13:58:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T13:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:03:49","slug":"the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm","title":{"rendered":"The Calm Before South Africa’s Inflation Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South African annual inflation edged higher in March, even before the US-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in domestic fuel costs.<\/p>\n

Consumer prices rose 3.1% from 3% in February, Statistics South Africa said in a statement on Wednesday. That matched the median estimate of 17 economists in a Bloomberg survey.<\/p>\n

The central bank\u2019s monetary policy committee \u2014 which targets inflation at 3% \u2014 will likely look beyond the latest data and focus on next month\u2019s statistics at its 28 May meeting.<\/p>\n

April inflation data will capture the biggest increase in gasoline and diesel prices in almost two decades.<\/p>\n

The closing of the Strait of Hormuz because of the conflict in the Persian Gulf has sent energy, fertiliser, and food prices soaring, stoking global inflation as the waterway carries about a quarter of seaborne oil as well as liquefied natural gas and key crop nutrients.<\/p>\n

Central Energy Fund data shows South Africa will likely raise fuel prices again next month.<\/p>\n

A Bloomberg survey before the inflation data showed most economists expect the central bank\u2019s benchmark rate to stay at 6.75% through year-end, while Citigroup sees a 50 basis-point hiking cycle this year starting from next month.<\/p>\n

Governor Lesetja Kganyago warned last week that the bank\u2019s war-risk scenarios are already unfolding. One assumes a two-month conflict with oil near $100 per barrel and the rand 5% weaker; the other envisages a longer war, with oil above $100 and the currency down about 10%.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are seeing the adverse scenario playing itself, although not fully,\u201d Kganyago said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that we are far off with what we said would happen with the oil price.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said the MPC would need to act. \u201cWe are not going to try and be pre-emptive,\u201d said Kganyago.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut neither can we afford to be complacent and say we\u2019ve got to wait for the second-round effects to arrive before we actually take an appropriate policy response.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South African annual inflation edged higher in March, even before the US-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in domestic fuel costs. Consumer prices rose 3.1% from 3% in February, Statistics South Africa said in a statement on Wednesday. That matched the median estimate of 17 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,5,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-economy","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Calm Before South Africa's Inflation Storm - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African annual inflation edged higher in March, even before the US-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in domest ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Calm Before South Africa's Inflation Storm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African annual inflation edged higher in March, even before the US-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in domest ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T13:58:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T14:03:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776940344.4278.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The Calm Before South Africa’s Inflation Storm\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-23T13:58:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-23T14:03:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm\"},\"wordCount\":334,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776940344.4278.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"economy\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-calm-before-south-africas-inflation-storm\",\"name\":\"The Calm Before South Africa's Inflation Storm - 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