Life's good, interest rates are decreasing and there may just be light at the end of our tunnel. :) As many of you - and most South Africans - will know, it's been tough going from a financial perspective for some time now. In July of 2006 we saw the repo rate start to rise from a long-time low of 7% to a high of 12% in July 2008 (an interest rate last experienced in July of 2003). What's with July and fluctuations in interest rates? It seems, however, as though Tito Mboweni, Governor of the Reserve Bank, has decided not to have a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (who decide on interest rate fluctuations) in July this year. Perhaps he's trying to break the trend?
Even with the Reserve Bank decreasing interest rates (in an effort to stimulate cash-flow, I guess) South Africans seem to not be spending as much as they were before. From the people I've spoken to, it sounds as though most are diverting as much money as they can into those huge home loans that Kerry-Anne mentioned a little while ago!
I guess we have to remember though that if we cut all our non-essential spending, it will lead to businesses shutting down, which will lead to unemployment, which could in turn lead to more crime. So, I guess what I'm thinking is that we should be wise with our money, but not too miserly.
