South Africa holds inflation rate at 5.9 percent

South Africa's headline inflation rate remained unchanged in October at 5.9 percent, slightly below the central bank's ceiling of six percent, official data showed on Wednesday (19/11/2014).

Statistics South Africa said prices had increased by a small fraction of a percent between September and October.

Economist said inflation was likely to remain contained in the coming months, on the back of lower commodity prices.

"The volatile rand though does pose an inflation risk and we might start seeing the effects of the rand coming through in the numbers further on in 2015," Nedbank economists said in a note to clients.

The rate last breached the target range of between three and six percent in September, stoking fears of interest rates hike, currently at 5.75 percent.

The Reserve Bank will on Thursday decide on the benchmark rate for this month, with market analysts mixed on whether the bank will tighten monetary policy further this week. - AFP