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Reserve Bank

latest news & developments
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago announced on Thursday that the monetary policy committee had increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7%, effective from 29 May.
BANKING

Reserve Bank hikes interest rate for first time since 2023 as oil shock, inflation risks mount

South African Reserve Bank raises interest rate to 7%, warning that oil shocks, food inflation and global instability could drive prices higher

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
South Africans should not view the US-Israel-Iran war as a distant Middle Eastern crisis with unfortunate consequences for oil prices. Photo:youngrobv
2026 STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

The Iran War is Africa’s warning: Build sovereignty or be ruled by other people’s power

A country that exports minerals but imports industrial dependence is not sovereign in any deep sense. A country that sits on energy resources but cannot convert them into stable…

  • Faiez Jacobs
8 min read
Consumer inflation edged higher to April to 2.8% year-on-year from 2.7% in March, driven mainly by the housing and utilities as well as the alcoholic beverages and tobacco categories, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.
BUDGET SPEECH

April consumer inflation edges higher to 2.8% year-on-year

April’s slight uptick suggests that the Reserve Bank will keep the benchmark repo rate at 7.5% next week

  • Aarti Bhana
2 min read
The country’s financial systems, especially international transfers, must be fit for purpose in the digital age. Photo: File
COMPANIES ACT

Greylisting is a symptom. South Africa’s real crisis is dysfunction without consequence

Financial crime governance should be happening in the boardroom and the legal and financial fallout from the lack of enforcement is becoming increasingly serious

  • Annerize Shaw
5 min read
South Africans want to travel, especially over December and January, as they need the break.
FCTG

Sunnier outlook: SA travellers ready to book their end-of-year breaks

Global tourism has reached 96% of pre-pandemic levels; tails are up

  • Flight Centre
5 min read
Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm, Phala Phala. (Leon Sadiki)
AFRICAN TRANSFORMATION MOVEMENT

ATM ‘will pursue all legal avenues’ over the Phala Phala scandal

The National Prosecuting Authority says Ramaphosa is off the Phala Phala hook

  • Paddy Harper
3 min read
Consumer inflation edged higher to April to 2.8% year-on-year from 2.7% in March, driven mainly by the housing and utilities as well as the alcoholic beverages and tobacco categories, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.
BUREAU FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH MAIN

Inflation dips below 5%

The latest year-on-year number is 4.6%. This is the lowest it has been since July 2021

  • Anathi Madubela
2 min read
Eskom will increase electricity tarrifs by April. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images
BRIAN KAMAZI

Don’t expect a reprieve in electricity prices anytime soon

Residential consumers pay more than those in most African, Southeast Asian and Brics countries This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free…

  • Mandisa Makgakga
1 min read
South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago. Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty Images
CENTRAL BANKS

Reserve bank head says climate change will raise fiscal risk

Central banks’ contribution to climate change-related aims, and their role in the transition, depend on government policy

  • Sheree Bega
9 min read
The ANC’s economic transformation head, Mmamoloko Kubayi, on Tuesday accused the treasury of attempting to usurp President Cyril Ramaphosa’s powers. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Reserve Bank clears Ramaphosa of wrongdoing in Phala Phala matter

The president did not violate any exchange control regulations, the central bank has found after a lengthy investigation

  • Lyse Comins
3 min read
While a higher inflation rate may otherwise inspire increased hawkishness in the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee — which meets this week — analysts expect that the repo rate will be kept on hold again. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ECONOMICS

Sympathise with the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee

The trend of wealth departing our shores is severely discouraging and political and economic reform is needed to stem the tide

  • Ross Harvey
7 min read
Lesetja Kganyago, governor of South Africa’s central bank. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
LESETJA KGANYAGO

Reserve Bank says South Africans must bungee jump out of a crashing helicopter

Governor Lesetja Kganyago’s obsession with imaginary ‘barbarians at the gate’ of the central bank, it is losing credibility in the eyes of the public

  • Siyabonga Hadebe
6 min read
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago. File photo
GILL MARCUS

Will Lesetja Kganyago surprise markets with interest rates decision?

The Reserve Bank’s decision to hike or not to hike interest rates is most acutely felt in this segment of society, people who are first-time home or vehicle buyers and more often…

  • Ron Derby
3 min read
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago
GOVERNOR

Kganyago: Load-shedding forcing consumer price hikes

The head of the central bank urged the government to stay committed to structural reforms, especially with regard to logistics and electricity

  • Anathi Madubela
3 min read
Over a decade of stagnant growth has made South Africa vulnerable to stagflation, especially in the wake of global economic shocks. (Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
INFLATION

Stagflation: South Africa not out of the woods yet

The country’s precarious growth means that, even as inflation cools, it is vulnerable to shocks

  • Sarah Smit
4 min read