ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Market will be on watch for CPI and current account data
Economists are in agreement that the conditions that led to CPI going out of range are improving
Markets will be on watch for the release of two key sets of data: consumer price inflation for February and current account figures, making this one of the most important weeks on the South African economic calendar. On Wednesday, Statistics SA is releasing the consumer price inflation (CPI) figure for February 2017, while the Reserve Bank quarterly bulletin, which contains SA’s current account numbers, is also scheduled to come out on the same day. Both sets of figures are scheduled for release a week before the Bank’s monetary policy committee is due to hold its meeting next week, at which it will decide on the country’s interest rates.The quarterly bulletin will contain figures for the last quarter of 2016 and give an indication of what the overall current account deficit was for the year, which could potentially affect the rand exchange rate. Although the Bank uses its forecasts of future inflation when making its interest rates decision, CPI figures have a bearing too. The loca...
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