The Reserve Bank on Thursday kept the key repo rate unchanged at 5.5 percent following its three day monetary policy committee meeting.

Following are the reactions of leading economists:

Craig Parker (economist at Frost and Sullivan):

"It is a good decision given the international pressures at the moment. There is risk aversion towards emerging markets with the rand coming under pressure due to developments in Greece."

Merina Willemse (economist at Efficient Group):

"We expected this. I think it's the right choice at this time and the governor highlighted all the risks accurately. At this point in time I think it's the best thing for SA."

Johan Rossouw (group economist at Vunani Securities):

The decision was in line with expectations and we would concur that that's the correct stance. We mostly agree with the prospects in terms of their forecasts although we are slightly more optimistic about the outlook for inflation. We are comfortable that interest rates will remain at current levels for quite some time.

Colen Garoow (economist at Meganomics)

The tone of the statement was decidedly dovish. It was interesting that the MPC said rates could move in either direction. In my view the trade-off seems to be between the volatile rand and lower oil prices. If overseas growth deteriorates further than there is a chance, albeit small, that we could see a rate cut. At the moment though it just looks as if rates will not be going anywhere fast.