South African inflation was facing stubborn and persistent external shocks that were helping to drive prices higher, central bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday. But it would be foolish to change the 3% to 6% inflation target range, he said in a speech at a monetary policy conference in Johannesburg.
South Africa should be prepared to intervene in the foreign exchange market to keep its currency stable and ”competitive”, and should maintain its inflation targets, a group advising the government said. In its report released on Thursday, an international panel — known as the Harvard Group — also suggested a budget surplus of between 1% and 2% to help ease inflation.