JOHANNESBURG, July 21 (Reuters) – South Africa’s central bank raised its main lending rate more than expected on Thursday, by 75 basis points to 5.50%.
This was the fifth meeting in a row that the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) monetary policy committee has raised rates to try to keep a lid on inflation.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 50 basis point increase.
The SARB has now hiked rates by a cumulative 200 basis points since November last year in a bid to tame inflation.
But June inflation quickened to a 13-year high of 7.4% year on year from 6.5% in May, moving further from the bank’s 3%-6% target range.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning, Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Bhargav Acharya and Promit Mukherjee Editing by James Macharia Chege)