Borrowing money just got a little more expensive, while saving money will pay out slightly more interest. 25 basis points sounds like a gentle, harmless medical term. In reality, it’s a 0.25% hike. On a R1,000,000 bond, that’s an extra ~R165 a month. That’s one block of Kerrygold butter or half a tank of 95 petrol gone into the void. The repo rate sits at 7.25%. But wait! The commercial banks add their mandatory 3.5% “thanks-for-existing” fee, pushing the prime rate you actually pay to 10.75%. Every time Lesetja Kganyago clears his throat, your bank debit-orders your soul. Why are they doing this? Inflation! Food and electricity prices are rising too fast, so the Reserve Bank’s genius strategy is to make us so aggressively broke that we physically can’t buy anything. Can’t have high prices if nobody has money! Macroeconomics! 🧠💥 The “silver lining”? If you have a fixed deposit or savings account, you’ll earn slightly higher interest! Which is fantastic news for the four people in South Africa who still have savings instead of a maxed-out credit card and an existential crisis. In short: Your bond payment went up, your car instalment went up, and your emergency dinner plans just got downgraded to instant noodles. Stay safe out there! 🫠