Thank you for joining us today as we launch the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) inaugural Payments Study Report. This study is one of our initiatives to better understand the payment system landscape in South Africa. It supports our current strategy, Vision 2025, which identified a need for the SARB to collect more payments information.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which operates, regulates, and oversees the national payment system (NPS), has published its inaugural Payments Study Report. The study, the first of its kind in South Africa, uses individuals’ payment data and provides extensive insight into how the public perceives and uses various payment methods and instruments available in the country.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), today announced the winners of the 2024 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Schools Challenge. This year, 12 schools from across the country were shortlisted as finalists. This reflects both an interest in, and maturity of, the competition.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago delivered a public lecture at the University of the Free State on August 15, 2024. During his address, he highlighted the ongoing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began nearly five years ago.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed administrative sanctions on Monarch Insurance Company Limited (Monarch) due to its non-compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act), following a FIC Act inspection conducted in 2022.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed administrative sanctions on the State Bank of India, South Africa (SBI), due to its non-compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act). This action follows a FIC Act inspection conducted in May 2020.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed administrative sanctions on Assupol Life Limited (Assupol) due to its non-compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act). This action follows a FIC Act inspection conducted in 2020.
A new measure of underlying inflation for South Africa, termed the persistent and common component of inflation (PCCI), has been introduced. The PCCI suggests that inflation pressures in the domestic economy are elevated, with outcomes remaining closer to the upper limit of the target band over the past year.
A new inflation measure has been developed to monitor underlying price developments in South Africa, termed supercore inflation. This measure includes components of core inflation that respond to general economic conditions, as measured by the output gap.
This economic note explores the potential macroeconomic impacts of the newly introduced two-pot pension system. According to the core model, a moderate two-pot system scenario is projected to add 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points (pp) to GDP growth in 2024 and 2025, respectively, while reducing the government debt-to-GDP ratio by 0.5 pp in 2024/25 and by 1.0 pp in 2025/26.
As of September 30, 2024, low-value electronic funds transfers (EFTs), debit, and credit payments made between Common Monetary Area (CMA) countries—Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa—will be treated as cross-border transactions and subject to greater due diligence requirements.
By signing the Paris Agreement, South Africa committed to transforming its economy to contribute to keeping global temperature rises well below 2°C. This transformation will inevitably impact financial institutions and could represent a systemic risk for the financial sector. According to central bank and academic research, an orderly transition should not jeopardize financial stability – but understanding transition risks for the banking sector, monitoring them and, when necessary, implementing macroprudential measures is necessary to ensure this stability.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed administrative sanctions on Safrican Insurance Company Limited (Safrican) due to its non-compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act). This decision follows a FIC Act inspection conducted in 2020.
The Johannesburg Interbank Average Rate (JIBAR) is a money market term reference rate used in South Africa. JIBAR is constructed using quoted rates for Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (NCD) by JIBAR contributing banks. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) serves as the administrator of JIBAR, holding primary responsibility for all aspects of the determination process and ensuring the integrity of the reference rate.
South Africa’s positive net international investment position (IIP) increased from a revised R2 028 billion at the end of December 2023 to R2 537 billion at the end of March 2024. The increase in the positive net IIP in the first quarter of 2024 was due to a significant increase in foreign assets, mainly emanating from strong growth in foreign share market indices, while foreign liabilities decreased during the period.
Economic activity in South Africa decreased slightly in the first quarter of 2024 as real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.1% after expanding by a revised 0.3% in the previous quarter. The real gross value added (GVA) by the secondary sector contracted in the first quarter of 2024, along with stagnant economic activity in the tertiary sector, while the real output of the primary sector expanded further. Despite the marginal contraction in the first quarter of 2024, the level of real GDP was 0.5% higher than a year earlier.
The national financial account records transactions involving financial assets and liabilities among resident institutional units and between these units and the rest of the world. By extension, the flow of funds measures financial statistics where both parties to a transaction are shown, as well as the nature of the financial instrument being transacted.
The Integrated Economic Accounts (IEA), as prescribed by the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA), provide a comprehensive view of the accounts for the total economy, including balance sheets. This framework allows for the principal economic relations and main aggregates to be displayed over a specified period. The IEA consists of three distinct macroeconomic accounts: the current and capital account (CURCAP), the non-financial balance sheet and accumulation account (NFBSAA), and the financial balance sheet and accumulation account (FBSAA). These accounts can also be...
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced revisions to its monetary policy implementation framework, effective June 18, 2024. The reformed framework allocates quotas for excess reserves to banks. Balances within these quotas will earn the policy rate, whereas balances exceeding the quotas will earn the repo rate minus 100 basis points.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed administrative sanctions on Bank of China Limited, Johannesburg Branch (BOC Jhb) due to its non-compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act). This decision follows a FIC Act inspection conducted in 2021, which assessed data from the period between 2016 and 2020.