South African central bank governor, Tito Mboweni, announced on Wednesday that the Monetary Policy Committee would meet on 23 and 24 March and then again on 29 and 30 April.

These new dates differ from the previously scheduled meeting of 15 and 16 April and is in line with expectations in the market that an inter-MPC meeting could be called due to the deteriorating economic picture and job losses. More meetings will come in May and June, before a break in July.

Mboweni said: "The MPC of the South African Reserve Bank will from now onwards meet according to the schedule below."

The published schedule gives the new March and April dates as well as new dates for (27, 28) May, (21, 22) September, (16, 17) November and (16, 17) December.

The fixed date of 24 and 25 June stays, as does the fixed date of 12 and 13 August and 21 and 22 October.

The MPC customarily met every two months before now, so the new schedule is a clear indication of the need for urgent action on rates. They will now meet 10 times this year, with January and July the only months in which meetings would not be seen.

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