Monetary Policy and the Economy in South Africa covers both modern theories and empirical analysis, linking monetary policy with relating house wealth, drivers of current account based on asset approach, expenditure switching and income absorption effects of monetary policy on trade balance, effects of inflation uncertainty on output growth and international spill overs. Each chapter uses data and relevant methodology to answer empirical and pertinent policy questions in South Africa. The book gives new insights into understanding these areas of economic policy and the wider emerging-markets.

The South African Reserve Bank has continued to fulfill its constitutional mandate to protect the value of the local currency by keeping inflation low and steady. This paper provides evidence that monetary policy tightening aimed at maintaining low and stable inflation could at the same time reduce consumption inequality over a 12–18 month horizon, commonly understood as the transmission lag of monetary policy action to the real economy, and similar to the distance between survey waves used in the analysis. In response to “exogenous” monetary policy tightening, the real consumption of individuals at lower ends of the consumption distribution declines relatively modestly, or even increases. With greater reliance on government transfers, thus smaller reliance on labor income, and relatively larger food consumption, these individuals appear to benefit mainly from lower inflation. By contrast, the real consumption of individuals at higher ends of the consumption distribution is more likely to decline due to lower labor income, weaker asset price performance, and higher debt service cost.

This paper investigates the key factors that explain the documented decline in the exchange rate pass-through in South Africa over the past two decades, which coincides with the adoption of the inflation-targeting regime. The paper conjectures, in line with the literature, that this outcome is largely due to improved monetary policy credibility. To do this, it first documents the factors that explain monetary policy credibility. Using the standard deviation of individual inflation forecasts as a measure of monetary policy credibility, its shows that the latter is negatively affected by the level of inflation itself, monetary policy uncertainty, and a measure of the unobserved stochastic volatility of inflation. The second phase proceeds by analyzing the determinants of the pass-through using the monetary policy credibility index derived from the first phase. The paper confirms the remarkable achievement that, despite the many shocks that the economy has witnessed, the declining pass-through is indeed explained by the improving monetary policy credibility.

South Africa experienced a momentous change of government from the Apartheid regime to its first democratic government in 1994. This book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive assessment of South Africa's economic policies and performance under democracy. The book includes a stand-alone introduction and economic overview, as well as chapters on growth, monetary and exchange rate policy and fiscal policy, on capital flows and trade policy, on investment and industrial and competition policy, on the effect of AIDs in the macroeconomy, and on unemployment, education and inequality and poverty. Each chapter, and the overview chapter in particular, also addresses prospects for the future.

This book focuses on income inequality, output-inflation trade-off and economic policy uncertainty in South Africa. Tight monetary and macroprudential policies raise income inequality. Income inequality transmits monetary policy and macroprudential policy shocks to real economic activity. Economic policy uncertainty influences the dynamics in the lending rate margins, inflation expectations, credit, pass-through of the repo rate to bank lending rates and companies’ cash holdings. The trade-off between output and inflation and output growth persistence vary with inflation regimes. Stimulatory demand policy shocks are less effective in high inflation regime. High income inequality raises consumption inequality, which raises demand for credit, but price stability matters in this link. Increased bank concentration raises income inequality, lowers economic growth and employment rate. Elevated economic policy uncertainty lowers output growth, lowers capital formation, reduces credit and raises companies’ cash holdings. Increased companies’ cash holdings reduce capital formation and impact the transmission of expansionary monetary policy shocks to real economic activity. This book shows there is an inflation level within the target band below it which lowers income inequality, while raising GDP growth and employment. Thus price stability, economic policy uncertainty and income inequality matter for the efficient transmission of policy shocks.

This book examines the dynamics in capital flows, credit markets and growth in South Africa. The authors explore the role of global economic growth, policy shifts and various economic policy uncertainties. Central banks in advanced economies are engaged in unconventional monetary policy tools such as balance sheet policies, negative interest rates and extended forward guidance to assist them to meet their price, financial and macro-economic stability objectives. This book determines whether BRICS GDP growth is a source of shocks or an amplifier of global growth shocks. The authors find that global economic growth and policy uncertainty reinforce each other via capital flows, credit conditions and business confidence on the domestic economy. Furthermore, they demonstrate that there is momentum in the changes in the spread between the repo rate and federal funds rate. In addition, global real policy rates impact domestic GDP growth and labor market conditions. The authors examine the economic costs of capital flow surges, sudden stops and elevated portfolio volatility shocks and their interaction with GDP growth and credit. They show that equity and debt inflows matter in the attainment of the price stability mandate. Moreover, business confidence transmits sovereign credit ratings upgrades and downgrades shocks to the real economy via GDP growth, the cost of government debt and borrowing to impact credit growth. High GDP growth increases the likelihood of sovereign credit ratings upgrades, hence policymakers should implement pro-growth policies. Inflation regimes impact the transmission of positive nominal demand shocks to the price level. Low and stable inflation (inflation below 4.5 per cent) reduces the pass-through of positive nominal demand shocks to inflation.