The South African Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee has kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.75% in a unanimous decision

The announcement was made by the central bank's governor Lesetja Kganyago at a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday afternoon. 

The repo rate is the benchmark interest rate at which the Reserve Bank lends money to other banks. Changes in the repo rate affect the prime lending rate, which is the lowest rate at which banks start lending to clients.

With the repo rate unchanged, the prime lending rate will remain at 10.25%.

Kganyago said the domestic growth outlook remained sluggish. He said the bank now believes the local economy grew by 0.7% in 2018, down from the 0.8% announced by Stats SA in early March. 

The announcement was in line with the expectations of economists. 

Earlier in the week analysts from NKC Economics said the central bank would likely keep rates unchanged on the back of a favourable outlook for inflation in 2018 and a moderate economic recovery expected for the year.