Some latest economic stats for KwaZulu-Natal.

BETI REPORT

Mike Schüssler

Apr 2015
March BETI may predict increasing inflation trend The volatile nature of South African economic activity is evident in the latest BankservAfrica Economic Transaction Index (BETI), which has slowed again. This is indicated by a decline in the March 2015 BETI when compared to the February BETI. However, it still increased albeit at a slower rate on a year-on-year basis.

As with the previous month, electricity outages and higher prices in March caused the country’s economy to take a step back. The fuel price increases in March likely forced consumers to fill their tanks in February to try to maximise savings on fuel. But some of the price pressure in the economy may be seen in the fact that the average nominal value per transaction via the South African banking system increased by 11.3%.

Click below link to view BETI April 2015:
BETI April15.pdf - 69.3 KB
Click below link to view May 2015 newsletter:

May 2015.pdf - 1.2 MB


BER Economic Snapshot May 2015

Highlights
March CPI posts the first y-o-y acceleration in six months
The consumer price index (CPI) rose at an annual rate of 4.0% in March, up from a four-year low of 3.9% in February. This marks the first annual increase after six consecutive months of declines. Core inflation (which excludes food and energy) slowed to 5.7% year-on-year (y-o-y), from 5.8% in February. The biggest contributor to annual headline inflation was the housing and utilities component which added 1.4 percentage points (% pts) to the March print. This was largely due to higher water and electricity prices. Despite the fuel increases in March, petrol prices remained lower compared to a year ago. The transport component registered a 5.0% decline, with the petrol price falling by 21.7%. Going forward, higher taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcoholic beverages, as well as a significant electricity tariff increase will push CPI higher. Furthermore, the recent uptick in commodity prices (primarily food and oil) will add to the price pressures.

Click below link to view BER Snapshot for May 2015:
BER Snapshot 2015-05.pdf - 608.5 KB


Click below link to view economic bulletins:
Beeld April 2015.pdf - 107.8 KB

KZN Regional CPI.xlsx - 42.3 KB

Click below link to view food price comparison database (SA not doing to bad at all):
Food Prices Comparing.xlsx - 42.3 KB

Dr Clive Coetzee

General Manager:  Infrastructure Management and Economic Services

KZN Provincial Treasury

Economist (PhD UKZN)

033 897 4538

http://www.kzntreasury.gov.za/