Consumers are finding themselves poorer as they navigate tough economic times with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) raising concerns about adverse credit patterns.
The country’s banks have recorded a 28% increase in the number of non-performing loans according to the latest MPC data released by the Reserve Bank.
Some consumers have been defaulting on their loans.
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The NCR’s Ngoako Mabeba says, “Credit is on the decline. I would say your credit providers are starting to stick to affordability guidelines and close tax and we’ve noted in the last quarter that 15 million credit applications were done and about 10 million which is 70% were actually declined which essentially means we are seeing more and more consumers being declined on credit. The figures released by the SARS are in line with what we are noting.”
On Thursday, the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep rates unchanged.
This leaves the re-purchase rate unchanged at 8.25%, while the prime lending rate by the banks also remains on hold at 11.75%.
The bank said risks to the inflation outlook are assessed on the upside.
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