S. Africa's CPI falls to lowest level in 15 years

Residents dine outside a restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

South Africa's consumer price index slowed to its lowest levels in May since 2004, according to data from Statistics South Africa.

JOHANNESBURG, July 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's consumer price index (CPI) slowed to its lowest levels in May this year since 2004 according to the Statistics South Africa's report on Wednesday.

The CPI which measures the prices of consumer goods and services slowed to 2.1 percent year-on-year in May from 3.0 percent in April. On a month-on-month basis, inflation fell 0.6 percent.

Declining fuel price was the main contributor to the CPI.

"The most significant price move in May was the fall in fuel prices. The fuel index slumped by 12.2 percent from April. The transport category -which includes fuel, running costs, vehicle purchases and public transport - was the only contributor to the minus 0.6 percent monthly change in the CPI," Stats SA said.

A resident goes shopping at a supermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

Jannie Rossouw, head of School of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, said this might lead to a lower interest rate.

"Transport costs declined because of lower oil prices,if inflation stays this low, there's room to drop the interest rate," he told Xinhua.

"Let's be cautious as these figures are only for May and we have not seen the June figures yet, so June will give a better indication of the trend of inflation as things returned to more normality," he added.