South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) governor Lesetja Kganyago yesterday announced that the repurchase rate (repo rate) in the country will remain as is at 8,25%.
This means the country’s prime lending rate stays at 11,75%.
Kganyago during his briefing said while South Africa’s economic conditions appear to have improved, the longer-term outlook mirrors the uncertainty of the global environment.
FNB chief economist Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya says having raised interest rates at every meeting since November 2021 and defying calls for shallower rate hikes or a pause in the past few meetings have caused the end of the hiking cycle to be difficult to predict.
“Nevertheless, we believe this pause is consistent with the monetary policy committee (MPC) taking stock of local inflation which has fallen within the target band in June, United States inflation which has fallen closer to target, as well as an improvement in the risk associated with South African assets and the implied starting point for the rand since the previous MPC meeting,” she says.
While South Africa has paused its hiking cycle, Namibia is still behind at 7,75%.
The Bank of Namibia will make an announcement on its decision on 16 August.
Email: lazarus@namibian.com.na
Twitter: @Lasarus_A
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