This afternoon, the Monetary Policy Committee will reveal its final interest rate decision for the year.
During their last meeting in September, the MPC kept the repo rate unchanged at 7% while the prime lending rate also remained unchanged at 10.5%.
The announcement today follows yesterday’s release of inflation data from Stats SA, which showed a slight acceleration in inflation to 3.6% in October 2025, up from 3.4% in SeptemberInvestec’s Chief Economist Annabel Bishop suggests the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will likely keep interest rates unchanged, prioritizing inflation control and allowing it to decrease to the newly adopted 3% target.
This cautious approach contrasts with some analysts’ expectations of a 25-basis-point cut.
However, the Bishop stated “South Africa’s inflation is expected to rise in the second half of 2025 because of cyclical factors, but the South African Reserve Bank(SARB) is poised to announce an interest decision, with the markets making predictions of a 25- basis point cut.
Inflation fell to 3.6% in October, and analysts believe the SARB has room to ease rates, given the current economic landscape”.
Sub-Editor: Matlala Kgaugelo
