The South African Reserve Bank cut its benchmark repurchase rate by 50 basis points to 7% on Thursday on signs economic performance remains poor.

Tito Mboweni, the governor of the Reserve Bank, said the global slowdown may have reached a turning point but the South African economy appeared to be lagging behind these international developments. "It is likely that the domestic economy contracted in the second quarter of this year. The domestic economy remains constrained by weak global and