year-on-year increases in consumer prices in metropolitan and other urban areas, excluding interest cost of mortgage bonds) initially fell below 6 per cent in the three months to September 2001, but subsequently picked up to 8,0 per cent in the year to March 2002. Headline inflation rose from 4,0 per cent in October 2001 to 6,6 per cent over the same period.
The acceleration in both these measures of inflation in the last few months, was a consequence of higher rates of increase in the prices of consumer food products that, in their turn, were associated with the decline in the exchange value of the rand.