News in South Africa 14th August: 1. Economy likely to grow: South Africa’s economy probably avoided a contraction in the second quarter, despite record power cuts, logistical constraints and sagging consumer confidence. In the view of analysts polled by Bloomberg Aug. 4-10, the economy stagnated quarter-on-quarter, compared with a forecast for a 0.1% contraction last […]
News in South Africa 11th August: 1. SA R500 billion in debt: South Africa will need to borrow R500 billion over the next year, or R2 billion per weekday on average, to fund its current fiscal deficit and refinance maturing debt. This increases the risk of investing in the country and increases borrowing costs for […]
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 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 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 10th May: 1. Good news for food prices: South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief as experts predict that food inflation is set to decelerate this year. Consumers have been facing a tough economic climate, with inflation, interest rate hikes, and load shedding all taking their toll. According to Stats SA, […]
News in South Africa 8th May: 1. Close call for recession in SA: Economists say South Africa may have escaped a technical recession in the first quarter of the year, but the extreme volatility in the economic data being put out makes it difficult to call. Economists from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and […]
News in South Africa 8th February: 1. Investors abandon SA: Investors have lost faith in South Africa’s government and have halted investment despite a wealth of opportunities, the head of the country’s biggest employer in the crucial mining industry said. More than 200 days of power cuts last year and blackouts every day so far […]
News in South Africa 7th February: 1. 100 consecutive days of load shedding: Energy minister Gwede Mantashe says that the ongoing energy crisis in South Africa is an “irritation” to society, and if it is not resolved, it could lead to a revolt among the populace. Speaking at the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba on […]
News in South Africa 17th November: 1. Technical recession avoided: South Africa’s economy is likely to have averted a technical recession in the third quarter despite record power outages, key data indicates. Better-than-expected mining and manufacturing output are set to outweigh relatively soft retail sales data, suggesting Africa’s most industrialized economy returned to growth in […]
