Monetary Policy, Inflation Targeting and Inflation Pressures: Address by Mr T.T. Mboweni

The Monetary Policy, Inflation Targeting and Inflation Pressures address by Mr T.T. Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, to the Bureau for Economic Research Annual Conference of last Thursday is now available from the SARB's website.

Here is what he addressed:

• the SARB's response to recent criticism and comments on their handling of the inflation developments
• the inflation targeting framework
• dealing with economic shocks such as rising oil price; supply side inflation; electricity pricing etc
• should the SARB change the inflation target range or redefine the inflation target basket
• should the SARB invoke the explanation clause as a means to avoid further monetary policy tightening

New issue: AfricaGrowth Agenda

The new issue of AfricaGrowth Agenda (April/Jun 2008) is available via SAePublications.

Scope of the publication:
The Africagrowth Agenda is a quarterly Magazine which publishes high quality articles covering development issues in Africa. Special focus of the magazine is on:
* Investment Climate in Africa
* Intra-African trade
* African capital markets
* Development finance/economics
* Issues surrounding African Development Institutions
* Best practice articles

Here is the table of content for the April/Jun 2008 issue:
1. Oiling the growth engine of Africa : editor's letter Authors: Biekpe, Nicholas, Pages: 4-5
2. Globalization of microfinance markets : some conditions for success Authors: Morales-Nieto, Jairo; Pages: 6-8
3. When Iceland was Ghana Authors: Gylfason, Thorvaldur; / Jun, Pages: 11-13
4. 5th African Finance Journal Conference Pages: 15
5. Interest rate deregulation policy in developing countries - some controversies Authors: Odhiambo, Nicholas M.; Pages: 16-18
6. Reparations for apartheid human rights abuses : the case of Khulumani Authors: Bohler-Muller, Narnia; Pages: 20-22
7. Developing financial architecture for small scale enterprises in Africa : a proposal on formal-informal sector linkages Authors: Tella, Sheriffdeen A.; Pages: 24-27
8. Inward foreign direct investment and Ghana's employment generation Authors: Abor, Joshua; Harvey, Simon K.;Pages: 28-29
9. Characteristics of Kenya's informal ("Jua Kali") economy and the unbanked : a briefing for the banking and financial markets Authors: Owino, Alexander George; Pages: 30-34
10. Africa SMME Conference and Awards 2008 Jun, Pages: 36
11. Success story : Staza cleaning services AuthorsPages: 37-38
12. Success story : House of Tara International Pages: 40

Which parts of the CPI publication do you use?

As many of you already know StatsSA is changing the CPI publication effect as from January 2008 and the new CPI index will highlight shifts in the consumer basket.

They would like your input on what parts of the CPI publication you actually use - to make the new CPI publication more user friendly. Please complete the survey on their website.

This June, Stats SA will release the new CPI weights - derived largely, but not exclusively, from the results of the income and expenditure survey released last month.

The release of the weights follows the publication last year of the draft CPI basket.

In new CPI basket certain products will move category and new products will be introduced.

New products include:

• minibus taxis, which account for over 60% of public transport. Collection of these prices is now possible as a result of the establishment of a national team of price collectors for CPI;


• funeral costs and funeral insurance enter the basket as expenditure on these items increases;


• restaurants, take-aways and hotels, now appear as a distinct category in the new CPI classification and Stats SA proposes to publish their price change explicitly;


• internet service provider fees and laptops enter the basket as this technology becomes more pervasive;


• DVD and CD players and disks replace VHS and audio tapes and players as a result of changes in technology;


• tickets to sporting events are added to the entertainment basket; and


• the lottery will be included in the basket if it is operational on 1 January 2008.

The CPI will continue to be published on the basis of the current basket and weights until the December 2008 release (in January 2009). The January 2009 CPI (published in February 2009) will be the first to be published on the basis of the new basket and weights.