PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa’s central bank kept its main lending rate unchanged at 8.25% in a decision announced on Thursday.
The decision marked a pause in the South African Reserve Bank’s tightening cycle, after 10 consecutive rate hikes since November 2021.
Inflation slowed to 5.4% year-on-year in June from 6.3% in May, data showed on Wednesday, falling within the central bank’s target range of 3%-6% for the first time since April 2022.
A majority of economists in a Reuters poll published last week expected that the bank would keep its repo rate unchanged.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton, Tannur Anders and Kopano Gumbi; Editing by Alexander Winning)
