South African Reserve Bank Raises Main Repo Rate to 6.25% From 5.5%

By Gabriele Steinhauser

South Africa's central bank on Thursday raised its main repo rate to 6.25% from 5.5%, highlighting the pressure on emerging-market central banks to keep up with the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary tightening.

Thursday's increase means that the South African Reserve Bank has raised its repo rate by a total of 2.75 percentage points this year in an effort to stabilize the rand currency even as weak growth in Africa's most developed economy appears to be keeping a lid on inflation.

Data from South Africa's statistics office this week showed that consumer price inflation eased to 7.6% in August from 7.8% in July, although still above the SARB's target range of annual inflation of between 3% and 6%.

The bank slightly revised down its forecast for South Africa's economic growth this year to 1.9% from 2% predicted at its last meeting in July. It expects gross domestic product to expand by 1.4% in 2023 and 1.7% in 2024, slightly higher than previously forecast.

Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-22-22 0938ET