South Africa's economy is likely to grow 3,4% this year, a shade slower than the 3,5% forecast last October, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday.

In his 2011/12 budget speech, Gordhan maintained his 2012 and 2013 GDP growth forecasts at 4,1% and 4,4% respectively.

He added that annual consumer price inflation, at 3,7% in January, was likely to track towards the upper end of a 3% to 6% target range by 2013 as growth accelerated away from a 2009 recession.

The Treasury said inflation would average 4,9% in 2011 and 5,2% in 2012, slightly higher than its forecasts in a medium-term budget review last October.

Rising world oil and food prices continued to pose the biggest risks to the inflation outlook, Gordhan added.

Latest official estimates suggest Africa's biggest economy grew 2,8% last year, gradually emerging from its first recession in nearly two decades.

"Strong commodity prices, low interest rates and faster global growth have been the main forces behind our economic recovery," Gordhan said.

He quashed hopes in South Africa's powerful union movement for a widening of the central bank's mandate to include a formal commitment to boosting growth and creating jobs.

"Monetary policy, operated by the Reserve Bank, will continue to be focused on controlling inflation," he said.