JOHANNESBURG, Dec 7 – Growth in South Africa’s retail sales slowed more than expected in October, suggesting that consumer demand is still hesitant and interest rates will stay low for longer.
Most analysts see the repo rate staying at 5.5 percent throughout next year but are not ruling out the possibility of another rate cut should there be more weakness in the economy.
On Wednesday, Statistics South Africa said annual growth in retail sales slowed to 7.4 percent year-on-year at constant prices in October from a downwardly revised 7.7 percent in September. This was lower than the market expectation of 7.7 percent.
Source: Reuters Africa newsletter
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