Citizen Online
Thursday, November 16, 2006
JOHANNESBURG - Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni would not hesitate to hike interest rates and change the monetary policy in order to stabilise inflation before Christmas, he said on Tuesday night.
"(The) best contribution the bank can make towards the attainment of high and sustainable rates of economic growth and employment creation is by keeping inflation at low levels."
This, he said, would contribute to the achievement and maintenance of overall macroeconomic stability.
"We target the inflation rate and not any other economic variable and currently our key task is to maintain CPIX inflation -- headline inflation less mortgage interest costs -- within a range of between six to three percent," Mboweni said.
CPIX inflation had been contained within this range since September 2003 and had averaged four percent for the past two years.
He said the International Monetary Fund projected growth rates of 4.8 and 5.9 percent for sub-Saharan Africa in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
"However, to attain the (United Nations) poverty Millennium Development Goals to halve the population of people living on less than US$1 a day, the subcontinent will need to accelerate annual GDP growth to at least seven percent."
"The South African Reserve Bank remains resolute in the implementation of our mandate and we are keeping a close eye on inflation developments," Mboweni said. - Sapa.