Annual inflation edges up slightly

The annual inflation rate for October 2015 increased moderately to 3.4% from 3.3% in the previous month according to the Namibia Statistics Agency. The moderate increase in the annual inflation rate according to the agency emanated mainly from increases in the price levels of the categories Food and Non-alcoholic beverages, Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels Health and Hotels, cafés and restaurants.
During the period October 2014 to October 2015, the annual inflation rate fluctuated between 5.0 and 2.9 percent with the highest annual inflation rate of 5.0 percent observed in October and November 2014 and the lowest of 2.9 percent registered in April 2015 the agency said.
The average annual and average monthly inflation rates for the period January to October 2015 were estimated at 3.4 and 0.3 percent, while the corresponding rates registered during the same period a year earlier (2014) stood at 5.5 and 0.4 percent respectively.
The monthly inflation rate for October 2015 increased to 0.2 percent from 0.1 percent recorded in the previous month.
Commenting on the inflation report, PSG Namibia said, “Headline inflation is expected to continue a slow ascent heading into next year. From a monetary policy perspective, the Bank of Namibia has been little concerned with inflation over the past year, instead focusing on the growth in consumer credit as a driver for its monetary policy decisions.”
Added PSG, “low inflation and slower credit growth will, in our opinion, enable the Bank of Namibia to keep interest rates on hold at its next two meetings scheduled for December 2015 and February 2016. In turn, the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) is expected to act in coming months on its pledge to continue on a trend of tightening monetary policy possibly as soon as next week.”