{"id":97406,"date":"2026-04-17T15:13:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:21:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:21:25","slug":"reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates","title":{"rendered":"Reserve Bank Governor Discusses Inflation and Interest Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the Iran war\u2019s impact on oil prices has validated wariness over inflation, without giving a clear signal on what that means for interest rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are seeing the adverse scenario playing itself, although not fully,\u201d Kganyago told Bloomberg Thursday on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that we are far off with what we said would happen with the oil price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kganyago and his colleagues held their policy benchmark at 6.75% last month while outlining two adverse scenarios of what the conflict could mean for South African price pressures and rates.<\/p>\n

In the first, the conflict lasted another two months and oil prices averaged around $100 per barrel, pushing inflation above 4%. In the second it dragged on for over a year and inflation exceeded 5%.<\/p>\n

The SARB targets inflation at 3%, and under both scenarios a rate increase would be warranted this year, with one hike in the first case and several more in the second.<\/p>\n

Traders are currently pricing in one quarter-point interest-rate increase next month and another by year-end.<\/p>\n

Kganyago was careful not to signal where policymakers were leaning ahead of the SARB\u2019s next rate decision, which will be announced on May 28, while repeating that officials will monitor so-called second round effects from higher fuel prices on other parts of the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to try and be pre-emptive,\u201d he said. \u201cBut neither can we afford to be complacent and say we\u2019ve got to wait for the second-round effects to arrive before we actually take an appropriate policy response.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did acknowledge that officials will likely lower their growth forecast because of the oil-price shock\u2019s impact on global growth and domestic spending, which might be a dampening influence on price pressures if it reduces demand in the economy.<\/p>\n

The SARB in March projected South African growth would edge up to 1.4% in 2026 from 1.1% last year. It saw inflation averaging 3.7% for 2026. South African inflation slowed to 3% in February.<\/p>\n

Striking a more hawkish tone, the governor warned that markets may be underestimating how long damage to refineries in the Persian Gulf could constrain physical oil supply \u2014 even if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is restored.<\/p>\n

Kganyago also added that any reduction in fuel levies to cushion a sharp rise in petrol and diesel prices should be temporary, pointing to lessons from the pandemic, when emergency social support measures introduced at the time are still in place years later.<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has cut the fuel levy by R3 a litre on both petrol and diesel for April and said he would review whether to extend the relief through June, signalling that the three-month window may be all South Africa can afford.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the Iran war\u2019s impact on oil prices has validated wariness over inflation, without giving a clear signal on what that means for interest rates. \u201cYou are seeing the adverse scenario playing itself, although not fully,\u201d Kganyago told Bloomberg Thursday on the sidelines of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nReserve Bank Governor Discusses Inflation and Interest Rates - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the Iran war\u2019s impact on oil prices has validated wariness ove ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reserve Bank Governor Discusses Inflation and Interest Rates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the Iran war\u2019s impact on oil prices has validated wariness ove ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T15:13:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T15:21:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776426608.241024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Reserve Bank Governor Discusses Inflation and Interest Rates\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T15:13:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T15:21:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates\"},\"wordCount\":486,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776426608.241024.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/reserve-bank-governor-discusses-inflation-and-interest-rates\",\"name\":\"Reserve Bank Governor Discusses Inflation and Interest Rates - 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