The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) monetary policy committee (MPC) will meet this week – and there’s likely to be GOOD news for those in debt.
For the latest finance news, bookmark The South African website’s dedicated section for free-to-read content
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 19 September with the official announcement due shortly after 15:00.
The MPC is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps).
As a reminder, the repo rate currently stands at 8.25% with the prime lending rate at 11.75%.
The MPC has hiked interest rates by a cumulative 475 basis points since 2021, despite keeping the rate unchanged at the last seven meetings.
The current repo rate of 8.25% represents a 15-year high (since 2009) and has had scores of South Africans desperately struggling to finance their debt.
Encouragingly, while four members of the MPC voted to keep rates unchanged at the most recent meeting in July, two at the time already voted for a 25 basis point cut.
The MPC meets every second month.
The SARB’s final meeting of the year will take place on Thursday, 21 November, where, according to BusinessTech, another 25 basis point cut is potentially on the cards.
SARB MPC MEETING DATES FOR 2024
| Month | Date |
| January | 25 January – No rate change |
| March | 27 March – No rate change |
| May | 30 May – No rate change |
| July | 18 July – No rate change |
| September | 19 September |
| November | 21 November |
Monthly bond repayments calculator
The South African website’s table below shows the current monthly bond repayments on various bond values over a 20-year period assuming no deposit and that repayments are at prime (11.75%) as well as the expected cost after next week’s 25 basis point cut and the monthly saving that would entail:
| Bond | Current | Expected | Saving |
| R750 000 | R8 128 | R7 998 | R130 |
| R800 000 | R8 670 | R8 531 | R139 |
| R850 000 | R9 212 | R9 065 | R147 |
| R900 000 | R9 753 | R9 598 | R155 |
| R950 000 | R10 295 | R10 131 | R164 |
| R1 000 000 | R10 837 | R10 664 | R173 |
| R1 500 000 | R16 256 | R15 996 | R260 |
| R2 000 000 | R21 674 | R21 329 | R345 |
| R2 500 000 | R27 093 | R26 661 | R432 |
| R3 000 000 | R32 511 | R31 993 | R518 |
| R3 500 000 | R37 930 | R37 325 | R605 |
| R4 000 000 | R43 348 | R42 657 | R691 |
| R4 500 000 | R48 767 | R47 989 | R778 |
| R5 000 000 | R54 185 | R53 321 | R864 |
As depicted above, the saving in such a situation on R1 million would be R173.
