SARB keeps interest rate steady

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor Lesetja Kganyago announced on Thursday that the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to leave the interest rate unchanged at its second meeting this year. The repurchase rate, which is the interest rate at which the Sarb lends money to commercial banks, has been steady at 7%, while the prime lending rate, which is the rate at which banks lend money to consumers, has been at 10.5%. The repurchase rate was last cut in July 2012, when then-governor Gill Marcus dropped it by 50 basis points to 5%, the lowest in at least 14 years, reported Bloomberg.