The Reserve Bank on Thursday kept the interest rate unchanged. The repo rate remained at 7%, leaving the prime lending rate at 10.50%. READ | SA Reserve Bank leaves repo rate unchangedExecutive Director at the Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) Chris Hattingh has urged consumers to use the reprieve to rein in their debt. Meanwhile, the latest DebtBusters survey suggested that more than half of consumers spend more than 40% of their take-home pay on repaying debt. Hattingh acknowledges that reducing debt either in the short or medium term may be difficult, but there are advantages to this.