South Africa’s private sector credit growth slowed to 7.41% year-on-year in July 2026, down from 7.77% in June, marking the softest pace of credit expansion since October last year.
Data released Monday by the South African Reserve Bank shows borrowing demand across households and businesses moderated as elevated interest rates continued to weigh on economic activity.
The broader M3 money supply growth also decelerated, rising 8.57% in July compared to 9.31% in June, further reinforcing signals of cooling monetary expansion across the economy.
July’s credit growth remains well below South Africa’s 60-year average of 12.70% recorded between 1966 and 2026, though comfortably clear of historical contractionary troughs.
Commercial and retail borrowing appetite has softened under the weight of restrictive borrowing costs, with the benchmark prime overdraft rate sitting held steady at 10.50%.
With headline inflation easing toward central bank targets, analysts suggest the cooling credit trend provides monetary policy makers additional flexibility to consider interest rate cuts later this year.
