The Reserve Bank‘s Monetary Policy Committee has kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% as expected.
Delivering the monetary policy statement, Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago says the risks to the inflation outlook remain elevated despite some improvement reflected in the August Consumer Inflation number.
CPI for August eased to 4.9% year-on-year from 5.1 in July.
Kganyago has also raised concerns about the impact of higher oil prices and a weaker rand on inflation. He has reiterated his position that the Bank is ready to change its monetary stance whenever it’s necessary.
“The MPC has decided to keep the repurchase rate unchanged at 6.5% per annum; four members preferred an unchanged stance and three members preferred a 25 basis points increase. The committee continues to assess the stance of monetary policy to be accommodative. However, the MPC remains concerned about the deteriorating inflation outlook is driven mainly by multiple supply-side factors.”
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