News in South Africa 25th July: 1. Rand makes a comeback: The rand is looking set for a tough week ahead, with US rate hikes likely to weaken the local currency. The rand has been one of the worst-performing major currencies in the world and reached a record high of nearly $20.00/$ in May. The […]
News in South Africa 24th July: 1. Good week tainted by 2 industries: South Africa had a great week on the economic front last week, with Stats SA reporting a significant drop in inflation, the Reserve Bank holding on interest rates and the rand ending stronger against the dollar. However, economists at the Bureau for […]
News in South Africa 21st July: 1. Financial stress climbing: A survey of more than 35 000 people has revealed that 55% spend more than 40% of their take-home pay on debt repayments, while 37% say more than half their available income goes straight to servicing debt. Nearly 80% of respondents say that they “experience […]
News in South Africa 19th July: 1. EU carbon levy impact: The European Union’s plan to put a carbon levy on imported goods from outside the bloc is an attempt to shift the burden for climate action to developing countries and may contravene World Trade Organization rules, South Africa said. The so-called carbon border adjustment […]
News in South Africa 14th July: 1. Rand breaks through R18/$: The rand broke through the psychologically important R18/$ level for the first time in just over three months on Thursday, boosted by positive US data, along with hopes that Chinese stimulus will offer support to commodity prices. The local currency reached R17.99/$ in mid-morning […]
News in South Africa 13th July: 1. Stage 8 load shedding warning: South Africa’s sudden return to stage 6 load shedding after about a month of day-time suspensions of the rolling blackouts is not really a surprise, say energy experts – and the risk of things escalating remains a possibility. Eskom was forced to return […]
News in South Africa 6th June: 1. Supermarkets’ diesel bill nears R3bn: The largest supermarket retailers in South Africa have now spent nearly R3 billion on diesel, to enable them to run generators so they could trade through the near-constant load shedding over the past nine months. The bulk of this expense came in the […]
News in South Africa 17th May: 1. Unemployment rises: South Africa’s unemployment rate rose for the first time in more than a year and may continue climbing as power cuts intensify, discouraging investment and sapping economic growth. The official jobless rate jumped to 32.9% in the three months through March from 32.7% in the prior […]
News in South Africa 9th May: 1. Rand remains weak: South Africa’s rand remains in a weak position as it awaits a shift in global markets, says Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop. Despite firming slightly on Monday (8 May) amid a softer dollar, the local unit has been sitting around R18.30/USD for some time. According […]
News in South Africa 7th March: 1. New minister of electricity: President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced changes to his executive – including two new ministries. During a twice-delayed address to the nation on Monday (6 March), the president revealed that Kgosientsho Ramokgopa would be appointed as the country’s new minister of electricity. He also revealed […]
