EDITORIAL | Extra pain for consumers as Bank holds line on inflation threat

Story audio is generated using AI Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has gained a reputation as a monetary hawk, ever ready to raise interest rates at the slightest sign of inflation picking up.

EDITORIAL | Extra pain for consumers as Bank holds line on inflation threat. Story audio is generated using AI Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has gained a reputation as a monetary hawk, ever ready to raise interest rates at the slightest sign of inflation picking up. He has become the scourge of a middle class groaning under the combined impact of elevated interest rates, soaring administered prices in the form of property rates and other municipal utilities, and static wages. At a stroke this week, Kganyago’s monetary policy committee, by a vote of four to two members, raised the repo rate by 25 basis points, bringing the prime lending rate to 10.5% and piling extra pain on consumers whose houses, cars and big appliances are mostly funded by credit in an economy largely driven by consumer spending. The governor has argued in the...