South Africa interest rate unchanged at 7%

October 2009 - FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- South Africa's central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7% on Thursday, meeting market expectations. "Economic growth is expected to improve in the coming months, but is likely to remain below potential for some time," the South African Reserve Bank said in a statement. "Domestic growth prospects are dependent to an extent on the global recovery which appears to be uneven across countries and regions." The substantial electricity tariff increases requested by public utility Eskom are "the main longer-term threat" to the inflation outlook, the central bank said.