Cost of basic food items set to ease, says agricultural economist
The cost of some food items like eggs, milk and cereals are set to come down.
This is due to wider global shifts which will be contributing to the easing of costs of these items over the coming months.
Data shows grain prices have also been on a decline since last year, which means a drop in cereals prices will also be seen, according to data.
"On the oils and fats, we also saw some deceleration there. The oils and 1st sub index, it has remained in negative territory for the third consecutive month. It was down by 12.9% year-on-year in July and these are good news," says agricultural economist with FNB Paul Makube.
Makube says a number of events had initially seen the cost of these food items spiral upwards, such as the Russia-Ukraine war which affected grain exports, as well as load shedding which was felt more intensely before easing as it has now.
"I mean we have seen inflation at a record high of 14.4% earlier in the year and then in the past few months, we have seen a deceleration from those levels and food inflation now at 10%, so that's good news for the consumers.”
