The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has ratcheted up the financial
pressure on already stretched households, hiking the repo rate by 25 basis
points to 7.25% and taking the prime lending rate to 10.75%.SARB Governor
Lesetja Kganyago pointed directly to the inflationary fallout from the global
energy shock as the primary driver for the tightening cycle. With imminent
October petrol and diesel price hikes looming—fueled by rand weakness
and global instability—Debt Rescue CEO Neil Roets warned that the
cumulative strain will devastate consumers, particularly given that the
South African economy contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter.
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