Consumer inflation drops to 3,0% in February... but what lies ahead?

Consumer inflation cooled slightly to 3,0% in February from 3,5% in January this year.

Chief Director for Price Stats at Statistics South Africa, Patrick Kelly, says the primary reason for the drop is medical aid increases.

"Usually medical aid companies increase their rates in January, but not all of them increased them at this time this year... so that's a key factor, and we do expect some of these medical aid firms to put through increases later in the year."

Kelly says another factor was the big drop in fuel prices in February, but that is unfortunately very unlikely to hold.

"With 20%–25% increases in crude oil prices, that's certainly going to have a big impact on local fuel."

He says food inflation also slowed down for the first time in five months, from 4.4% in January to 3.7% in February.  

To listen to Patrick Kelly in conversation with CapeTalk and 702’s Mandy Wiener, use the audio player below: