The South African Reserve Bank kept the policy repurchase rate unchanged at 8.25% at the March Monetary Policy Committee meeting and kept its forecasts largely unchanged, writes Isaah Mhlanga.

The trend is clear: the growth in the economy has been weakening since the recovery from Covid in 2021

The list of infrastructural reforms needed is well known: rail, roads, ports, and water, amongst others

Independence is demonstrated by decisions during election years, even though the debt-to-GDP ratio is less prudent

When the politics are volatile, as is likely this year, policy must overcompensate and be less volatile

In simple terms, when the country is adding more people at a faster rate than the growth of economic resources to support those people, on average everyone is getting poorer

Government spending, coalitions, load-shedding and Transnet are among the issues

Given the sticky inflation, consumers will have to wait a little longer to get relief from interest rate cuts

With a little over 30 days to December 15, when many South Africans go on leave, it is useful to assess where we are in global markets, writes Isaah Mhlanga

Hope is all well and good, but effective delivery is what counts