Improvement in producer inflation figure in February
February’s slowdown follows the January producer price index’s sharp drop to 5.9% from December’s 7.1%
Factory and farm gate inflation — which averaged 7% in 2016 due to a severe drought pushing up food prices — continued its deceleration in February, coming in at 5.6%.February’s slowdown follows January’s sharp drop to 5.9% from December’s 7.1%.On Thursday Statistics SA reported that its producer price index (PPI) for February was 101 points. The index, which was set to 100 points in December 2016, was 0.6% higher than January’s 100.4 points.Annual producer inflation peaked at 8.1% in February 2016.Thursday’s data showed the highest inflation in February was for diesel, which was 23.1% more expensive than the same month in 2016. Petrol producer inflation was 9.8%.Overall food producer inflation was 9% in February. Dairy product inflation of 12.5% was the highest in the food category after sugar, with fruit and vegetable inflation third, at 11.7%.Sugar inflation abated to 14.7%.Oils and fats were 4.3% cheaper than in February 2016, according to Statistics SA’s data.Deflation was also...
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