The possibility of another interest rate hike is not out of the question, according to SA Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Fundi Tshazibana.
THE POSSIBILITY of another interest rate hike is not out of the question, according to SA Reserve Bank (SARB) Deputy Governor Fundi Tshazibana.
Tshazibana spoke at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg on Tuesday. She noted that there are far too many risks to South Africa’s inflation to argue that the interest rate hikes are of the past.
Since 2021 the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been on a lengthy cycle of tightening up SA’s fiscal policies. The committee has hiked up the repo rate by 475 basis points to 8.25% during this term.
“While many in the public domain are trying to get us to say the hiking cycle is over, as I said, there are too many risks on the horizon for us to pronounce on it. We have seen recent price pressures mainly in fuel but also on the food side,” she said.
Tshazibana added that it “is probably adequate to stabilise inflation at 4.5%”.
Kuben Naidoo’s departure
Earlier in the week, SARB Deputy Governor Kuben Naidoo tendered his resignation to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to an analyst who spoke to the Daily Maverick, the ruling party ANC and the government have no real plan to implement a successor.
“There is no one lined up. It’s a bit of a mess,” the analyst who wanted to remain anonymous told the publication.
This suggests that Naidoo may have made this decision right away and clearly did not create an exit strategy with the central bank and government.
It should be noted that his departure is by no means clear; the president has not made any comment on his leaving or when that would be.
His term at the central bank was scheduled to end in 18 months.
The next interest rate announcement will be on November 23, so in all reality, he may still be with the bank by the next interest rate decision.
