JOHANNESBURG, April 14 (Reuters) – Above-inflation increases to South Africa’s electricity and water prices pose a risk to the consumer inflation outlook and could trigger a rise in lending rates, the central bank said on Wednesday.

“These risks, should they materialise, could drive headline above the 4.5% target midpoint and possibly dislodge inflation expectations away from the midpoint,” the bank said in its bi-annual Monetary Policy Review.

The bank targets consumer price inflation of between 3%-6%. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo)

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