By Alexandra WexlerJOHANNESBURG--The South African Reserve Bank on Thursday maintained its main repo rate at 8.25% in an effort to keep inflation in check amid disappointing economic performance. The bank lowered its growth estimate for the second quarter to 0.6% from its previous projection of a 0.7% expansion. Kganyago said the blackouts shaved 1.5 percentage points off of GDP in 2023, and would take 0.2 percentage points off of GDP this year, down from an estimate of 0.5 percentage points in May. In 2024, the SARB expects growth of 1.1%, down slightly from the bank's May estimate of a 1.2% expansion. Write to Alexandra Wexler at alexendra.wexler@wsj.com(END) Dow Jones NewswiresJuly 18, 2024 09:42 ET (13:42 GMT)Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Source: Wall Street Journal July 18, 2024 14:03 UTC