“Two hundred basis points is possible ... we need to move very strongly now,” he told Bloomberg after speaking at the Gordon Institute of Business Science late yesterday. “Drastic situations require drastic measures,” he said. The Bank has not raised interest rates by two percentage points in one go since 1998.

Official data earlier in the day showed that the annual rise in the CPIX inflation gauge — which is what drives monetary policy — surged 10,4% last month, above 10,1% in March and forecasts for a dip to 10%. That was its fastest pace since December 2002, and marked the 13th month in a row that CPIX, which excludes mortgage costs, has breached its 3%-6% official target range.

“You don’t have to be a genius to tell that interest rates have to tighten ... with CPIX at 10,4%, drastic measures are required,” Mboweni said . “Pain is coming ... what’s on the horizon is not that nice.” Mboweni’s tone appeared to be flippant, but he told the seminar he had “tested” the idea of a 200-basis-point hike with his colleagues. Mboweni told Bloomberg later that he did not think other members of the Bank’s monetary policy committee were very far away from his thinking.

Statistics SA data showed that the headline consumer price index, the broadest inflation measure, quickened to 11,1% from 10,6% in March — exceeding forecasts for a 10,7% rise. “It’s more terrible news,” said Absa Capital research head Jeff Gable. “There is now a 75% chance that interest rates will rise in August as well as June.”

Mariam Isa