SA's reached top of rate hike cycle, predicts economist
Easier times could be around the corner for indebted consumers.
That's the sentiment of a lead economist at audit firm KPMG following Thursday's announcement of an unchanged repo rate by the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee.
The decision to leave the repo rate at 8,25% follows several increases since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Economist Frank Blackmore says these were driven, in part, by the Covid disruption and the Russian war with Ukraine.
He says the average consumer can expect to start breathing a sigh of relief from now on into the near future.
READ: SARB keeps repo rate unchanged at 8.25%
"We probably have reached the top unless there are further shocks to the economy, which I don't think will happen. The big impact that came in from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The sticky price is crude (oil). These things are coming down in the right direction, we don't know how quickly it will come down but it will come down and that's good news."
