It is no secret that we are in interesting economic times at the moment but it would seem that consumers are still spending money, they are how-ever very particular on what they spend. This could be great for the inflation rate which will assist in bringing down the interest rate.
According to some of the “BIG” retailers they expected consumers to spend a lot less then they did over Christmas, they did say that consumers are much more particular on what they buy. Consumers are taking a bit more time now …

For an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) the margin is the amount that is added to the index to establish the interest rate on each adjustment date.

Well I am sure most of us felt a little relief when Tito Mboweni announced on Thursday that the interest rate will be lowered by 50 basis point.
Many economists are feeling pretty optimistic now after hearing the SARB (South African Reserve Bank) saying that inflation targets should be reached towards 2010. This could be an indication of much more rate cuts to come in 2009.
Apparently a 100 basis point cut was discussed and two MPC (Monitory Policy Committee) members voted in favour thereof. This again is a good indication that …