Repo Rate Unchanged: Lesetja Kganyago, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

THEBE MABANGA

AND SO, a traumatic year ends not with a bang but with a whimper on the interest rate front as the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank opts to keep rates on hold, meaning the total cut for the year is 275 basis points and keeping the repo rate at 3, 5 %.  

With such a buffer, there is room for a full 100 basis points cut, if only to boost a flagging growth and confidence.

But you are unlikely to get that from the SA Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago and his ‘Conservative Crew’.

The MPC showed a much better handle on the coronavirus than they do on the country’s interest rates.

“Since the September meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), it has become clear that Covid-19 infections will occur in waves of higher and lower intensity, caused in large part by pandemic fatigue