جنوب أفريقيا سعر الفائدة

The South African Reserve Bank kept the repo rate unchanged at 7.5% during its 2025 March meeting, with risks to economic stability calling for caution. Inflation, while contained, has edged higher, with goods inflation remaining low but services inflation rising. VAT hikes and CPI reweighting affected the outlook, but lower fuel prices and electricity tariffs improved projections. In February inflation was steady at 3.2%, its highest in four months. The central bank sees headline inflation at 3.6% this year and 4.5% next year. Looking to GDP, overall growth was weak at 0.6% in 2024, below expectations and slightly worse than 2023. The 2025 forecast was revised down to 1.7% due to weak demand and supply issues. The 2025Q1 GDP projection is 0.4% (q/q, seasonally adjusted), while 2025Q2 is 0.5%.