Following the 2018 budget statement, it’s going to be another packed week on the economic front. On Wednesday, the producer price index (PPI), private sector credit extension and the trade balance are all expected to be released. Last week, consumer price inflation (CPI) dropped to its lowest level since March 2015, down to 4.4% in January 2018 from 4.7% in December 2017. For 2017 as a whole, inflation averaged 5.3%, down from 6.3% in 2016, but up from 4.6% in 2015. FNB chief economist Mamello Matikinca said that the PPI would moderate slightly from December’s year-on-year 5.2%, driven by an increase in the fuel price. "A fuel price cut in January on the back of a positive market and currency reaction to the outcome of the ANC elective conference should see the PPI drift lower to 5% year on year." Historically, January is a bad month for the trade balance as producers return from the December break and importers replenish stock. Over the past four years, the January trade balance ha...
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