PRETORIA (Reuters) – South African policymakers are discussing lowering the central bank’s inflation target from its current range of 3% to 6%, central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Wednesday.
Kganyago told Reuters that his personal preference was for a decision to be taken to lower the target “before we get to 2025,” but that teams from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and National Treasury were still identifying the risks associated with lowering the target and how to mitigate them.
He said in an interview that there was huge uncertainty surrounding this year’s general elections in May that was keeping the country’s risk premium elevated.
Asked what he wanted to achieve in his third term as SARB governor starting in November, Kganyago said “the job on the inflation front is not yet done”.
(Reporting by Kopano Gumbi and Alexander Winning; Editing by Toby Chopra)
