The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) kept the repurchase rate steady at 7% per annum, following the conclusion of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday.

"The decision of the MPC, however, was not unanimous," SARB governor Gill Marcus said at the press conference following the meeting.

"There were strong voices for a cut but no one discussed an increase," she said.

Marcus said the longer-term inflation outlook remained
"relatively favourable" notwithstanding some base effects that were likely to adversely affect the inflation outcomes in the short-term.

She said domestic consumption expenditure remained under stress, and there were no perceived risks to the inflation outlook from this source.

"Despite the continued contraction of private sector gross fixed capital formation, the domestic economic growth outlook appears to have improved, but is expected to remain below the potential output growth for some time," Marcus said.

She said the global economy was characterised by an uneven recovery across regions and some risks persisted, while the global inflation outlook appeared to be contained.