South Africa’s targeted inflation should remain within its range, but the target could be threatened by adverse developments and a poor response to past monetary tightening, the central bank said on Tuesday. In its latest monetary policy review, the Reserve Bank said it remained focused on keeping inflation within a 3% to 6% band.
Demand for credit by South Africa’s private sector should brake in March in a delayed reaction to last year’s interest-rate increases, easing pressure on the central bank to resume raising interest rates. The country’s trade deficit should, however, widen to R4,1-billion after narrowing to R2,7-billion in February.
South African private-sector credit demand accelerated in February, denting expectations that the central bank will not need to raise interest rates next month. Reserve Bank data showed on Friday that private-sector credit extension grew 26,12% year-on-year (y/y) in February, from 24,83% in January, clouding the interest-rate outlook in Africa’s economic powerhouse.
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/ 28 February 2007
South Africa on Wednesday unveiled a new policy to manage its swelling elephant population, including resuming a controversial cull of the animals if needed. Government experts have been pushing for a targeted slaughter of some of the country’s 20 000 elephants as well as a birth control programme to preserve land endangered by the voracious eaters.
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/ 14 February 2007
South Africa’s retail-sales growth braked to 7,2% year-on-year in December, official data showed on Wednesday, but the slowdown was seen unlikely to sway the central bank’s pending decision on interest rates. Sales growth eased from a downwardly revised 12% in November, leaving growth for 2006 at 9,7% at constant prices.
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/ 30 January 2007
Growth in demand for credit by South Africa’s private sector slowed in the year to the end of December, boosting the view that the central bank need not hike interest rates next month to curb inflation. Data from the South African Reserve Bank on Tuesday showed that private-sector credit extension braked to 25,81% in December, compared with 26,77% in November.
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/ 20 December 2006
South Africa’s main inflation gauges came in below forecasts on Wednesday, but the jury was still out on whether the central bank would hold off hiking interest rates further as it grapples with runaway consumer spending. Statistics South Africa said the targeted CPIX inflation rate rose by a lower-than-expected unchanged 5% in the year to November.
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/ 29 November 2006
Demand for credit by South Africa’s private sector soared by a record 27,48% in the year to October, beating forecasts and rendering another interest rate rise this year virtually certain. Analysts said although the central bank’s rate hike campaign is likely to start dampening growth eventually, current rate levels are still too low to cool mortgage borrowing.
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/ 15 November 2006
The South African Reserve bank will remain resolute to keep inflation under control, and not hesitate to change monetary policy before Christmas if necessary, Governor Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday, signalling another rate hike.
The Reserve Bank has already raised its repo rate by 150 basis points since June to curb inflationary pressures, and most analysts expect more increases ahead.
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/ 11 October 2006
About 1,4-million people in Zimbabwe will need food aid in the six months until the next summer harvest despite improved output from last season, a United Nations World Food Programme official said on Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe’s government has forecast production of 1,8-million tonnes of the staple maize grain for the 2005/06 season.