JOHANNESBURG, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Below are comments from
South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus on the Monetary
Policy Committee’s interest rate decision on Thursday.
INFLATION
“Despite the number of upside, supply-side risks, inflation
is expected to remain contained within the target range over the
forecast period.
“Global inflation remains relatively benign given the weak
demand. But supply side shocks in the form of higher food prices
… and resilient international crude oil prices pose a risk to
the outlook.
“The inflation forecast of the bank reflects a moderate
deterioration for 2013 compared with the previous forecast, and
a relatively flat trajectory over the entire forecast period.
“Inflation is now expected to average 5.3 percent in the
final quarter of 2012, 5.2 percent in 2013 and 5.0 percent in
2014.
“Food and petrol prices are the main upside risks to the
inflation outlook.
“The near-term deterioration is mainly due to higher than
expected petrol and food inflation. Core inflation appears to be
well contained with a peak of 4.9 percent expected in the final
quarter of 2012, compared with the previous forecast peak of 5.4
percent.
Continued…
