Gopinath told Reuters in an interview that the strategy
followed by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) was "appropriate",
pointing to the fact that inflation was now back within the target range.
Inflation fell within the 3%-6% band in June for the first
time since April 2022.
In July, the central bank paused its rate hiking cycle after
raising the main lending rate by a cumulative 475 basis points to 8.25% since
November 2021.
The SARB has been criticised for its restrictive policy
position when the economy has struggled to grow and inflation has been driven
by supply-side constraints.
"We believe that the central bank has done the right
things in terms of raising interest rates to ... ensure that inflation doesn't
go very high," said Gopinath on the sidelines of a SARB conference in Cape
Town.
While Gopinath lauded the central bank, she cautioned that
ongoing electricity and logistics constraints would hurt South Africa's growth
outlook.
The struggling state-owned power utility, Eskom, has been
forced into constant power cuts as aging infrastructure fails to meet demand.
The SARB has estimated that this has not only cut growth
forecasts by up to 2 percentage points, but added to inflation as well.
Logistical challenges from the port and rail authority have
also limited the ability of key export commodities reaching their final
destinations.
"Clearly the growth we are projecting at 0.3% this year
is because of the energy crisis," said Gopinath, adding logistics
constraints were equally dragging down growth.
"On logistics ... if there is liberalisation that ...
brings in private sector participation, that is another area which can raise
growth," she said.
South Africa's first-quarter GDP grew by a marginal 0.4%
with the second quarter figure expected on Tuesday. -Reuters
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