This comes as inflation eased to 4.4% in August, below the midpoint of the Reserve Bank’s 3-6% target band

Better than expected inflation outcomes domestically and globally back the case for the central bank to cut the repo rate to 8%, economists said This content is restricted to…

Some strategies for financial resilience

Speakers at the South African Reserve Bank’s biennial conference seemed to favour a ‘higher for longer’ approach to interest rates amid ongoing economic uncertainty

The slowdown will probably influence the central bank’s decision on interest rates

The headline rate eased to 6.3% year-on-year in May, down from 6.8%

The architecture of the global financial system hurts emerging market economies but the alliance has yet to offer an alternative

The turmoil, which some say was inevitable given aggressive hiking cycles, exposes the dependency of advanced economies on cheap credit

Analysts expected inflation to continue on a downward trajectory in February after falling to 6.9% in January; instead, it reached 7%

Later this month the South African Reserve Bank will decide how big a rise the country’s flailing economy can take

The ANC has made the call for more flexible monetary policy before, but has dithered in seeing it through

Economy hitting geopolitical tensions, pressure on consumers and load-shedding will likely stick around

There is much to suggest that global economic disaster is not assured, or even likely, in the near future

Prices have slowly retreated from their July peak, when inflation increased at its highest rate since 2009

Consumer inflation hit 7.6% year-on-year in October, bucking the downward trend that had been anticipated after the July ‘peak’

The government should rather consider a targeted approach to reducing inflation

Most household lack access to adequate food to meet dietary needs for a healthy, active lifestyle

In a split decision, the bank’s monetary policy committee increased the repo rate, which affects the cost of borrowing, by 75 basis points

This is according to some economists, who say the Reserve Bank got ahead of the curve before inflation became entrenched

High food and fuel prices have prompted trade unions to make bigger wage demands, which will exert upward pressure on longer-term inflation