On tenterhooks: hike or no hike?
The Reserve Bank might have to raise interest rates in coming months due to uncertainty about the path of US interest rates
The Reserve Bank might have to raise interest rates in coming months due to uncertainty about the path of US interest rates, S&P Global Ratings said this week. Such a development would mean that the projected cooling down of inflation in the South African economy and a cut in domestic interest rates later this year could be short-lived. Samira Mensah, an associate at financial-services ratings at S&P, said on Tuesday that the international credit-rating agency expected interest rate hikes of 25-75 basis points in South Africa over the next 12 to 18 months. Mensah, speaking on the sidelines of the S&P credit conference, said such a move by the Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee would depend on the developments in the US, where changes in the monetary policy stance may signal a reprieve for emerging-market currencies such as the rand. US President Donald Trump is a supporter of a strong dollar, in principle, but he has blamed it for lack of competitiveness in global trade agains...
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