South Africans were buckling under debt pressure, even before the 75bps interest rate hike

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) increased interest rates in the country by 75 basis points on Thursday, the biggest increase from a single monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting since 2002. Analysts are predicting more monster interest rate hikes later this year, especially since one of the MPC members already wanted a 100 basis points hike this week.

Ironically, the same week that the Reserve Bank shocked many consumers with the latest hike, four of South Africa's credit bureaus and debt counselling firms published research showing how financially squeezed consumers already were.

Credit bureau TransUnion released the results of its second quarter survey hours before Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago took the podium. The TransUnion Consumer Pulse Study explores how households' finances have changed on a quarterly basis and what changes they expect in the future.