The consumer inflation index ? the measure used by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for its inflation target ? is expected to have decreased to 5.0 percent year-on-year (y/y) in April from 5.1 percent in March, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.

The CPI edged below six percent in February after it had reached higher than six percent the previous two months.

Forecasts among the nine economists ranged from 4.9 percent to 5.2 percent.

One of the participants in the survey said that inflation is expected to fall below five percent in May, before picking up in the latter half of 2010.

The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup could also add some upward pressure on prices, as companies in the hotel, restaurant, general entertainment and travel industry look to take advantage of the influx of tourists into the country.

Annual CPI in 2009 struck 7.1 percent from 11.5 percent in 2008. It was at 7.1 percent in 2007.

The annual average for CPI was 4.7 percent in 2006 from 3.4 percent in 2005, compared with only 1.4 percent in 2004, which was the lowest annual average since 1958.

The March CPI data will be released by Statistics South Africa at 11.30am on Wednesday.