SARB Interest Rate Decision Rises to 7.25% From 7%

The South African Reserve Bank today announced its latest interest rate decision, setting the benchmark rate at 7.25%. This represents an increase from the previous rate of 7%. There was no consensus figure provided for this particular release.

Following the announcement, USDZAR initially moved -9.2 pips five minutes after the release. Fifteen minutes after the decision, USDZAR was trading +209 pips higher. This measured market reaction so far is small when compared to historical movements for this event. The median 1-hour move for USDZAR after past SARB rate decisions has been 1520 pips, with top-quarter releases moving 2190+ pips. Direction-reliability statistics are not yet available for this series.