For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Shomolekae.

Making headlines: South Africa producer inflation unchanged; EFF asks court to stop proposed fuel levy hike; And, Nigeria's Tinubu touts economic gains at mid-term but inflation and insecurity persist

South Africa producer inflation unchanged

South Africa's producer inflation was at 0.5% year on year in April, unchanged from March, statistics agency data showed today.

The Producer Price Index increased 0.5% month on month in April, Statistics South Africa said.

EFF asks court to stop proposed fuel levy hike

South Africa’s leftist Economic Freedom Fighters filed court papers in a bid to halt a proposed increase in fuel levies, the latest twist in a months-long tussle over the annual budget.

The higher levies was proposed last week by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his third attempt to present a taxation and spending plan that can win support from lawmakers.

South Africa’s fourth-largest political party also opposed a planned value-added tax hike incorporated in previous versions of the budget, which was scrapped in the latest iteration. It sought an urgent court intervention today to halt the fuel price hikes.

The legal challenge is a potential setback in a messy process that has unsettled investors. The budget was initially scheduled for February, but the planned VAT hike led to a split among members of the country’s 10-party governing coalition and it had to be reworked.

Godongwana’s latest budget plan got a warm reception from investors and was quickly endorsed by the Democratic Alliance, the second-largest member of the GNU, helping the rand outperform on foreign-exchange markets.

And, Nigeria's Tinubu touts economic gains at mid-term but inflation and insecurity persist

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu marked his second anniversary in office by declaring that his economic reforms were working, but international bodies have warned of persistent economic and security problems.

Since 2023, Tinubu's policies - the removal of a costly petrol price subsidy, cuts to electricity price subsidies, and two currency devaluations - have triggered the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, fuelled by inflation rates of more than 23%.

He said the country’s economic reforms are working noting the measures needed to avert a severe fiscal crisis that would have led to "runaway inflation, external debt default, and a plunging Naira and an economy in a free-fall."

Tinubu said the fiscal deficit has narrowed sharply to 3.0% of GDP in 2024 from 5.4% in 2023, supported by improved government revenue generation. He claimed inflation had begun to ease, but this is largely because the index was rebased for the first time in more than a decade.

The World Bank has said that Nigeria's fiscal position has improved in recent months, but warned that persistently high inflation remains a challenge.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to follow us on the X platform, at the handle @PolityZA