We have not had to tighten policy sharply to achieve high real interest rates, as has been necessary in countries such as Brazil, Russia, Ghana and Zambia. All this is in the past. The rate hikes from late 2015 and early 2016 are only beginning to affect the economy now. Those hikes help explain why inflation is returning to target.
Any new decisions will shape economic outcomes in about one to two years’ time. We are therefore focussed on the outlook for late 2017 and 2018. We see the shocks of 2016 dissipating. Food price inflation is expected to slow from the first quarter of next year as weather conditions normalise.