South Africans urged to tighten their belts again
An economist says if early indications are anything to go by, it looks like we are going to have to tighten our budget purse strings further later this year.
The cost-of-living squeeze has been grabbing headlines this week.
On Wednesday, memorandums were submitted to government by union federations Cosatu and Saftu after marches against rising food and fuel costs.
Stats SA later announced that annual headline consumer inflation reached a 13-year high, jumping to 7,8% in July from June's 7,4%.
READ: Consumer inflation soars to 13-year high
There were significant price increases for products such as bread, cereals, oils, fuel and electricity.
Economist Dawie Roodt says there are indications the Reserve Bank could move interest rates up again this year.
"I am afraid that after the recent CPI, it is pretty clear that the South African Reserve Bank does not have much of a choice but to increase interest rates. I think we can all expect the reserve bank to increase rates, my money is on a 50 basis points increase."
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