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South Africa’s central bank suggests Q2 or 2024 repo rate cuts, despite inflation rising to 5.9% in October, meeting SARB’s 3-6% goal, and Q3 2023 unemployment rate at 31.9%.

The US economy expanded 4.9% in Q3 2023, primarily due to job growth. The ECB maintained 4% interest rates despite a weak economy, paused by PMI data and a 0.1% contraction in the euro zone.

US core CPI increased 0.3% in September, 4.1% 12-monthly, while UK inflation remained 6.7% due to rising fuel costs, despite food price declines in two years.

Despite this backdrop, central banks still made coordinated efforts to raise interest rates in aggressive increments to increase the cost of borrowing and bring inflation to its respective targets.

In July, South Africa experienced a drop in inflation, while US interest rates reached their highest in 22 years. August saw rising wages and China’s property crisis intensified.