Interest rates on the rise, with more hikes expected this year

Published on

28 January 2022

The first of up to six interest rate hikes for 2022 has been announced.

The Reserve Bank yesterday afternoon raised the interest rate by 25 basis points.

This takes the repo rate to 4% and the prime interest rate to 7.5%.

Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago says the bank’s quarterly forecasting model points to further increases in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He says concerns about rising inflation, especially food and fuel, necessitated the decision.

Concerns about electricity price inflation is also a concern.

Kganyago says they expect SA’s GDP growth rate for 2021 to come in lower at 4.8%, compared to a forecast of 5.2% as its last MPC meeting in November.

#MPCJAN22 pic.twitter.com/LT44L9W4in
— SA Reserve Bank (@SAReserveBank) January 27, 2022

Liesl Smit

Liesl is the Smile 90.4FM News Manager. She has been at Smile since 2016, with nearly 20 years experience in the radio industry, including reading news, field reporting and producing. In 2008 she won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award, Western Cape region. liesl@smile904.fm