News in South Africa 20th February: 1. Rand weakens: The rand has weakened with the market worried about South Africa’s marked fiscal slippage. In the 2023 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MBTPS), gross debt was projected to peak at 77.7% of GDP in 2025/26, far higher than February 2023’s Budget estimate of 73.6%. Investec Chief Economist […]
News in South Africa 12th January: 1. SA to pay back R28 billion: Nations in Sub-Saharan Africa have been locked out of international debt markets for 22 months now, and investors are increasingly betting the drought will soon end as countries seek funding for a slew of principal payments coming due this year and next. […]
News in South Africa 21st November: 1. Sars APN impacts imports: On 1 December, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) will implement new advance payment notification (APN) requirements in a bid to combat illicit cash flows. The changes will impact all import payments valued at R50 000 and above. An APN is an application made by […]
News in South Africa 16th October: 1. Population grows – economy falls: The most notable figure in the 2022 census of SA’s population is confirmation that the population increased to above 62 million people, which is close to 20% higher than in the previous census 10 years ago. An immediate thought that comes to mind is that […]
News in South Africa 27th September: 1. Government to fail on its promises: South Africa is set to miss all but one of the 2030 development targets its National Planning Commission set just over a decade ago. Of nine targets set in the National Development Plan, ranging from employment to investment, five measures have deteriorated […]
News in South Africa 21st August: 1. SA remains neutral: Ahead of the 15th Brics Summit in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation SA would not be drawn into a contest between global powers. In an address to the nation on Sunday evening, Ramaphosa said the country was committed to a policy of non-alignment. […]
News in South Africa 18th August: 1. Food price warning: Economists have warned that drier weather conditions and recent developments in international trade could lead to food price increases. According to Stats SA, annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages – a central reason for high headline inflation – dropped from 11.9% in May to […]
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 5th July: 1. Severe water shortage: Experts are warning of a looming water crisis on a scale worse than load-shedding in South Africa as criminal syndicates have begun targeting water infrastructure to score tenders. Professor Anthony Turton from the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State warned […]
News in South Africa 23rd June: 1. Renewables put on hold: As South Africa ramps up its roll-out of renewable energy, it is now confronting the same challenge faced by countries across the globe. Depleted grid capacity in resource-rich areas is making it increasingly difficult to connect new renewable energy projects to the grid, particularly […]
