Sarb keeps interest rates on hold - as it happened

Cape Town - SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) governor Lesetja Kganyago is due to announce the monetary policy committee’s last rates decision for the year.

The repurchase rate, which is the interest rate at which the Sarb lends money to commercial banks, has been steady at 7%, while the prime-lending rate, which is the rate at which banks lend money to consumers, has been at 10.5%.

South Africans have already seen a total interest rate increase of 100 basis points since November last year.

Despite higher-than-expected headline inflation at 6.4% in October, the Reserve Bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged amid low economic growth and subdued consumer spending.