The repo rate, prime, and what they do to your loan
Updated 25 August 2026
The repo rate is the rate at which the South African Reserve Bank lends to commercial banks. The Monetary Policy Committee sets it at six meetings a year, and every other interest rate in the country moves in its shadow: prime is repo plus 3.5 percentage points by convention, and the National Credit Act caps unsecured credit at repo plus 21 percentage points a year.
Why a repo cut lowers your loan cap
Because the unsecured-credit cap is written as repo plus 21%, a quarter-point cut lowers the maximum a lender may charge on a personal loan by the same quarter point. Existing variable-rate loans reprice; fixed-rate agreements do not. Short-term credit is different: its caps are fixed at 5% and 3% per month and do not move with repo at all.
Prime and what banks actually charge
Banks quote personal loans and home loans relative to prime, for example 'prime plus 2%'. A good profile gets a smaller margin. Non-bank lenders mostly price near the NCA cap regardless of repo, which is why the gap between a bank loan and a non-bank loan widens when rates fall.
Where the rate is now
The repo rate is 7.00% (effective 2026-05-28), which puts prime at 10.5% and the unsecured-credit cap at 28.00% a year. The May 2026 increase of 25 basis points was the first hike since May 2023 and reversed part of the six cuts that had brought the rate down from 8.25%; the July 2026 meeting held it there.
When the rate changes
MPC meetings are scheduled in January, March, May, July, September and November. We update the rate used in our calculators after each announcement; the date of the figure in use is shown on every calculator.
Questions people ask
›What is the current repo rate?
See the figure and its effective date on our loan calculators; it is updated after every MPC meeting.
›Does the repo rate affect payday loans?
No. Short-term credit interest is capped per month by regulation and does not track repo.