South Africa central bank joins easing club with 25 basis point rate cut

By Kopano Gumbi,  Tannur Anders and Bhargav Acharya

South Africa’s central bank cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years on Thursday, as it said it saw inflation staying below the midpoint of its target range as far out as 2026.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 8.00%, as predicted by economists polled by Reuters.
South Africa’s headline consumer inflation came in at 4.4% year-on-year in August, just below the 4.5% midpoint of the target range the central bank aims for.

The rate cut follows the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to begin lowering rates, and makes South Africa the latest emerging market to embark on an easing cycle after early movers in Latin America and central Europe.

Prior to Thursday’s cut, the SARB had kept the repo rate unchanged at seven policy meetings in a row. Before