The South African Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its next interest rate decision on 19 November, according to the Bank's published calendar of events. The Bank describes the briefing as a televised address. The calendar entry does not state a time of day.

The repo rate currently stands at 7.25%, after the committee raised it by 25 basis points on 23 September. That increase took effect on 25 September.

How the repo rate got here

The Bank raised the repo rate to 7% on 28 May, left it unchanged on 23 July and raised it again to 7.25% on 23 September, according to the government news agency's record of the decisions. In September the committee voted unanimously, and inflation stood at 4.4%.

The rate had been cut to 6.75% on 20 November 2025, so the September level sits half a percentage point above where it was a year ago.

What the Bank has signalled

Announcing the September decision, SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago said: "We currently project that inflation will return to the 3% target towards the end of 2027." He added: "Our decisions will continue to be taken on a meeting-by-meeting basis."

The Bank said inflation is expected to remain elevated through 2027, driven largely by fuel and services inflation. It cited a fuel-price shock that "has intensified", higher global interest rates, and supply-chain disruption linked to the Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine. Its forecasting model had the policy rate broadly stable for the rest of this year, with cuts later as inflation falls toward 3%. It also lowered its growth projection to 1.2% from 1.4%.

Governor Kganyago said the committee was adopting "a more restrictive monetary policy, with rates above longer-term levels".

Why it matters to households

The repo rate feeds into the prime lending rate, which in turn affects home loans, vehicle finance and credit card repayments. A hold would leave those repayments where they are, while a change in either direction would alter monthly instalments for borrowers on variable rates.

What we do not yet know

  • The Bank has not announced the time of the 19 November briefing.
  • The committee has not signalled how it weighs the local election outcome and coalition uncertainty against the inflation outlook.
  • The Bank's September path pointed to a stable rate this year, but it has said each decision will be taken meeting by meeting.