THE Reserve Bank has reiterated that interest-rate hikes may soon be over, but suggested that rate cuts were unlikely until inflation was firmly and sustainably within the 3% to 6% target band.The Bank released its biannual monetary policy review — a report that gives an update of monetary policy developments — on Monday."Should conditions develop in line with the current forecasts, it may at some point become possible to conclude the policy tightening cycle," the Bank said."However, the bar for loosening policy is high, requiring a substantial, sustained improvement in forecast inflation bringing it more comfortably within the 3% to 6% target range."The Bank left the repo rate unchanged at 7% at its May, July and September meetings on weak economic growth and more recently on an improvement to the inflation outlook and a firmer rand.The deceleration in inflation to within the target band at 5.9% year on year in August was expected to be temporary.The Bank saw inflation moving back ...
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