WATCH: SARB to announce Monetary Policy Committee decision

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will be announcing the second Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision for this year. Picture: Steve Buissinne/Pixabay

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will be announcing the second Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision for this year. Picture: Steve Buissinne/Pixabay

Published Mar 25, 2021

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DURBAN - Today, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will be announcing the second Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision for this year.

The announcement will be taking place at 3:00 pm this afternoon.

The previous decision in January 2021 left the repurchase rate (repo rate) unchanged at 3.5 percent as inflation fell to a 16-year low in 2020. This was despite economists predicting a 25 basis point cut in interest rates as inflation remained at the lower end of the bank’s target range of 3-6 percent due to slowing demand.

Similarly, for today’s announcement, SARB is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.5 percent after cutting rates aggressively last year to shore up the economy.

TreasuryONE economist Andre Cilliers said economists are not expecting any change in the repo rate and for the SARB to maintain their cautious stance.

SA’s inflation decelerated in February, confirming an all-but accepted consensus on the market that SARB will keep interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future as the print fell below the bank's mid-tier range of between 3 and 6 percent.

The announcement will be streamed live on the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Facebook and YouTube accounts.

BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

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