The SA Reserve Bank is forecast to leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday when its monetary policy committee meets for the last time in a year that has seen the Bank act swiftly to cushion the economy amid the Covid-19-induced recession.

Since the onset of the pandemic crisis in March, the Bank has slashed rates to 3.5% — the lowest policy rate implemented by the bank in almost half a century — including one unscheduled meeting in April during the severest phase of SA’s lockdown...