News flows in July were mostly positive, bucking the trend over the previous two months. Vehicle sales maintained a positive trajectory in June posting growth of 3.0% y/y. Food and beverage sales increased ahead of CPI in May. Despite these outcomes, other key metrics continue to flounder. PMI declined 1.9 points in June complimented by Business Confidence declines in the same month. Consumer confidence for the second quarter shed 4.0 points. Negative outcomes were also seen with CPI and PPI inflation which rose 20bps and 130 respectively.
While fuel costs remain high, the price of petrol only increased by 1c/litre in August while the price of diesel fell 4c/l. The rand closed the month of July at R13.25/USD.
