Governor Says Monetary Policy "Has Just Become Restrictive"

Governor Lesetja Kganyago is now taking questions from the audience, the first one is about the time South Africa will spend under "restrictive" monetary conditions, which will constrain economic activity.

• Kganyago answers that "we have just become restrictive" and refuses to speculate on how long South Africa will remain in this territory, noting that policy is "state-dependent" not "time-dependent."
• The Governor emphasises that "there wouldn't be relaxation of policy until inflation trajectory changes," based on the risk-adjusted assessment of data.
• Kganyago says that the MPC wants to see the effects of restrictive policy and the "short-term pain" will bring benefits in the future.
• The designation of the current policy stance as "restrictive" is a change from the March statement, when policy was described as "less accommodative."