The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) says its approach to stablecoins has not been settled, in its first response to the public campaign launched on Wednesday, 9 September by South Africa’s largest regulated crypto platforms against its proposed cross-border crypto restrictions. “These are draft requirements, and national treasury and Sarb, in collaboration with other regulators,…
Google is rolling out a major feature expansion to “Ask Maps,” the conversational assistant embedded within Google Maps. The update introduces agentic capabilities that allow users to order food, book accommodations, and monitor public transit directly through natural language prompts, alongside deep personalization options driven by connected Google services. Read: SpaceX shares plunge after first…
The username feature is the latest in a series of privacy-focused additions WhatsApp has introduced to enhance user privacy. Meta-owned WhatsApp has announced plans to introduce usernames, a new feature aimed at allowing its users to connect with others without sharing their phone numbers. The messaging platform disclosed the feature on its website on Monday,…
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago. Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Tuesday that the bank would bring inflation back to its 3% target, defending last week’s rate hike as necessary to prevent second-round effects from the Middle East oil shock from becoming entrenched. The central bank raised its key repo rate by…
The South African Reserve Bank has raised its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 7%, breaking a run of stability as a deepening Middle East crisis drives oil prices higher and reignites inflation. The increase, effective 29 May, was backed by four members of the monetary policy committee, with two favouring no change,…
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago The South African Reserve Bank maintained its main lending rate at 6.75% on Thursday, saying caution was needed as higher energy prices triggered by the US-Israel war against Iran would push up inflation. Economists polled by Reuters had expected no change in the repo rate, as the Middle East conflict…
The Trump administration ordered the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve this week, making it the second-largest release from the reserve in its history after former President Joe Biden’s 2022 withdrawal of 180 million barrels. The move was meant to stem oil prices, which hovered over $100 a…
A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters Oil prices surged more than 7% Thursday, as traders appear to be unconvinced that government stockpiles can offset the massive supply shock triggered by the war in the Middle East. The West Texas Intermediate jumped 7.5% to $93.8 per…
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The South African Reserve Bank has flagged cryptocurrencies as a new risk to domestic fiscal stability. It said this in the second edition of its Financial Stability Review for 2025, which covers the six-month-period from June to November. In a presentation on Tuesday, Nicola Brink, head of department for financial stability at the Reserve Bank,…
