The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be meeting this week and will announce a decision on interest rates on Thursday (26 January).
According to Finder’s poll of 20 economists, academics, and analysts, 93%, or 19 out of 20, forecast a rate hike on the way.
More than half (59%) of the panel think the rate will be increased by 50 basis points (bps), while a third (33%) predict just a 25bps increase.
The anticipated rate hike comes amid high inflationary conditions in South Africa, with the latest CPI print for December 2022 showing inflation at 7.2%. While this is down from 7.4% recorded in November, it is still sitting outside the SARB’s targetted range of 3% to 6%.
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has made it clear that the central bank will continue using rate hikes as its key tool to contain inflation and said that hikes would continue as long as inflation remains high.
“We have seen inflation go up like a rocket and down like an escalator (slowly),” said Kganyago. “We need to see it within the target range (3% – 6%).
Full Article on… Business Insider
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