PRETORIA, May 30 (Reuters) – South Africa’s central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at 8.25% on Thursday, saying that high inflation expectations required “that we deliver on our target sooner rather than later”.

The decision was unanimous and came a day after the country held a pivotal general election. Early results show the ruling African National Congress was on course to lose a majority it has held for 30 years.

All 20 economists in a May 20-23 Reuters poll predicted there would be no change in the repo rate ZAREPO=ECI.

The South African Reserve Bank has kept monetary policy tight to try to steer inflation back towards the midpoint of its 3%-6% inflation target range.

Consumer inflation stood at 5.2% year on year ZACPIY=ECI in April, the latest month for which data is available, down slightly from 5.3% in March.

(Reporting by Kopano Gumbi and Alexander Winning; Additional reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Bate Felix)