JOHANNESBURG - The war in the Middle East and external pressures are squeezing South Africans' budgets.
This past week, the SA Reserve Bank hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.
Fuel prices continue to rise and food inflation is spiking.
New research from TransUnion shows consumers are cutting back on spending, leaning more on credit and dipping into savings just to stay afloat.
TransUnion CEO Lee Naik said South African households are under significant pressure.
"Most consumers only have a small for the fuel they bought just a month ago. Their purchasing power has dropped by some 14%," Naik said.
In practical terms, he said, if someone used to buy 50 litres of fuel, they can now only buy 43 litres of fuel for the same amount of money.