Johannesburg - Growth in credit demand by South Africa's
private sector slowed to 8.64% year-on-year in January, compared with a 10.09%
rise in December, central bank data showed on Thursday.
Expansion in the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply
accelerated to 6.75% year-on-year in January after rising by 5.17% the previous
month, the South African Reserve Bank said.
Jana Le Roux, economist at ETM analytics said: "It has
been noted over recent months that household credit growth has lost some upside
momentum. However corporate credit growth has been rather robust, buoying the
headline PSCE number. Therefore, the downside surprise may have been a function
of a sharp decline in corporate credit growth.
"Following a period in which a divergence was noted
between M3 and PSCE, presumably on the back of a slowdown in public sector
borrowing (including local govt. and parastatals) which weighed on M3, the
rebound in M3 to resume the relationship does not come as much of a surprise. A
further convergence in the two series is likely to materialise in coming
months.
"Bottom Line: aggregate monetary environment remains
accommodative which suggest that risks to inflation over the medium term
remains to the upside. The South African Reserve Bank is likely to keep its
accommodative policy measures intact as the domestic economy remains highly
reliant on consumption to support overall growth."
Elna Moolman, analyst at Renaissance Capital said: "The
growth in credit extension fell short of our expectations with a moderation to
8.6% year-on-year in January. This seems to be mostly owing to the corporate
sector as credit extended to households maintained its December growth rate at
about 9.9%. The ongoing weakness in the mortgage market is striking - mortgage
advances were virtually unchanged from December."
The rand was at R8.8435 against the dollar at 06:32 GMT from
R8.8450 before the data was released at 06:00 GMT. The yield on the 2015 bond
was slightly higher at 5.280%, as was that for the 2026 paper, which was
yielding 7.300%.
Credit demand growth has been in positive territory since
May 2010, although its recovery has been somewhat constrained by high
unemployment and an uncertain outlook for companies.
The ratio of household debt to disposable income remains
extremely high at 76% while unemployment remains around 25%.
The Reserve Bank's benchmark repo rate is at a four decade
low of 5.0%. The central bank left it unchanged in January, citing concerns
about rising food prices and a depreciating rand exchange rate in a period of
slowing growth.
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