EDITORIAL: Inflation makes us poorer
SA did a lot better that the UK and US, which is an argument for a lower target, not a higher one
At a time when most economists expect the next interest rate move to be a cut, it’s quite unexpected to see some calling for SA’s inflation target to be shifted upwards from the 3%-6% at which the government pegged the target two decades ago.
Interest rates were hiked sharply in SA and across the globe in 2021 and 2022 when inflation started to climb as economies opened up after the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine caused fuel and food prices to spike. That certainly caused hardship to borrowers such as homeowners who have variable rate bonds that reprice every time interest rates change. The hardship has inevitably been reflected in higher rates of bad debt at the banks...
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