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reserve bank

Expenditure Growth Rate Slows

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The South African economy's spending growth eased in the second quarter of 2011 due to a contraction in government spending and slowdown in consumer spending, said the Reserve Bank. In its September Quarterly Bulletin released on Tuesday, the central bank said growth in real gross domestic expenditure decelerated from an annualised rate of 7.9% in the first quarter to 1.3% in the second quarter. "This deceleration primarily resulted from a contraction in real final consumption expenditure … [Read more...] about Expenditure Growth Rate Slows

SA Shielded From Global Market Turmoil by Low Lending Rate and Forex

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South Africa's low lending rate and the Reserve Bank's stockpiling of more than $50 billion in foreign currency would help shield the country from some of the turmoil experienced by global markets in recent days, Johan van den Heever, the Reserve Bank's deputy chief economist said today. Briefing the National Assembly's finance committee on the release of the Reserve Bank's 2011 Annual Economic Report - which highlighted South Africa's poor export performance and slow recovery of lending by … [Read more...] about SA Shielded From Global Market Turmoil by Low Lending Rate and Forex

Reserve Bank’s R1.2bn after-tax Loss

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The South African Reserve Bank reported a R1.2 billion after-tax loss in the year ended March 2011, it said in its Annual Report released on Tuesday 14 June. According to the document, capital flows to many emerging markets in the final quarter of 2010 and early 2011 with a similar pattern were observed in South Africa. Between November 2010 and March 2011, there were cumulative net sales of bonds and equities by non-residents. Even through the unstable pattern of capital flows, the bank, … [Read more...] about Reserve Bank’s R1.2bn after-tax Loss

And the Focus Turns to Inflation

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The Reserve Bank has vowed to keep a watchful eye on second-round effects of inflation, it stated in its May Monetary Policy Review. "The MPC will remain vigilant with respect to indications of second-round effects or generalised inflation, and will not hesitate to take timeous appropriate action, particularly if inflation is expected to move out of the target range on a sustained basis," said the central bank on Tuesday. The bank would continue to give primacy to its objective of price … [Read more...] about And the Focus Turns to Inflation

Unchanged Repo Rate Supported by BUSA

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Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has expressed its support to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 percent. "BUSA agrees with the decision by the Reserve Bank today (Thursday) to leave interest rates unchanged for the time being. This is a realistic reading of external and internal economic factors. The domestic economic recovery is still modest and the global economic outlook remains uncertain," BUSA said. This as the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday left rates … [Read more...] about Unchanged Repo Rate Supported by BUSA

Rates Unchanged at 5.5%

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The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept rates unchanged at 5.5 percent per annum in line with market expectation. Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus on Thursday said since the previous meeting of the MPC in January, risks to the outlook for domestic inflation have increased on the upside, due mainly to cost push pressures. The prognosis for domestic growth has improved with the recovery expected to be sustained. The Bank said household consumption expenditure has been … [Read more...] about Rates Unchanged at 5.5%

Tell Us Something we DON’T Know!

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South Africa's job creation remained sluggish, despite the recovery in the country's economic activity, the Quarterly Bulletin said on Tuesday. According to the Reserve Bank's March Quarterly Bulletin, the pace of job creation in the past 18 months has been sluggish, with formal non-agricultural employment increasing moderately in the third quarter of 2010. In the private sector, employment levels remained roughly unchanged in the third quarter while employment levels in public sector … [Read more...] about Tell Us Something we DON’T Know!