Inflation shoots?
Over the last few months I have been tracking food inflation more closely especially with regards to the border closures. If you recall we had the worst August, September, October, and November since 2009 when you compare corresponding monthly food inflation.
The NBS just released the December inflation report and are those little shoots I see? The headline number still rose but the monthly food inflation was relatively not so bad. Worse than the last two years but no so bad compared to other Decembers since 2009.
Of course the borders are still closed. Could this be because the effects of the border closure are fading away and we have settled at a new equilibrium? Could it be that demand over the holidays was muted? Could it be just a blip in the data? The watch continues.