Chief economist at Investec, Annabel Bishop, continues to expect a 50 basis point cut in interest rates given that one did not materialise on Tuesday.

"By October, CPI inflation will be 0.5 percent lower than the 6.7 percent prevailing at the August MPC meeting [when rates were surprisingly cut], and real interest rates will be at least 50 basis points higher," she says.

"The difference in the timing between our and the SA Reserve Bank's forecast of when inflation regains target is three quarters. This is quite significant. The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) expects the oil price will be significantly higher than we believe and we do not expect as rapid a recovery in global commodity prices," she says.

"In addition, we are not forecasting significant rand depreciation, so we do not look for substantially higher rand oil prices. The Sarb is also forecasting higher nominal unit labour costs over this period, but these would need to be very high to keep CPI inflation out of target until the middle of next year," says Bishop.

"The tone of the statement was similar to the previous one, with concerns about greater uncertainty about the domestic recovery path and SA's dependence on global economic growth," says Bishop.