Sa economic growth
SA's economic outlook stable but future unpredictable - economists
Some economists contend that the main risk to growth currently was the Ukraine and Russia conflict, as it had the potential to impact global growth as well as...
While the 2022 Budget is expected to be in unison with last year's Mid-Term Policy Statement, skills targeting has been proposed as a medium-term remedy for growth.
Many South Africans want to hear how Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana plans on promoting economic growth, whether there will be added financial burdens by increased taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol and how government plans on creating an environment that promotes job creation.
Minister Enoch Godongwana said he had a meeting with the police minister recently where he expressed his concern about criminality saying this had a direct bearing on investor activity.
Cosatu wants the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) to further lower the repo rate by 50 basis points when its monetary policy committee next meets, and for commercial banks to “come to the party” in helping make credit affordable.
Stats SA said that the finance, mining and trade sectors were the main drivers on the production side of the economy, while household spending and changes in inventories helped spur growth on the demand side.
The agency faced backlash for continuing with the annualised rates since the second quarter of 2020 when the data showed the GDP had contracted in half following the initial hard lockdown.
Stats SA said that eight industries contributed to the 1.5% economic growth rate and 6.3% annualised GDP increase.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said that it would take time for the country to get back to pre-pandemic output levels.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has promised to fast-track reforms to raise economic growth potential, but some investors are becoming restless about the pace of change.
On Thursday, the Reserve Bank governor announced that the repo rate was being lowered by 25 basis points.
Ratings agency Fitch said the country had a poor track record of delivering debt and spending cuts.
The RMB business confidence index was at 5 points for the second quarter, the lowest level since the first survey in 1975 and down from 18 points for the first quarter.
South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) has expectedly contracted by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019, pushing the country into a technical recession, Statistics SA announced on Tuesday. This is the second consecutive drop after the economy failed to show any signs of positive growth in the quarter before, making it a technical recession. A full recession refers to two quarters of recession, combined with a year-on-year decline GDP.
Dr Jack & Curtis.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the underlying weakness in South Africa's economy could be further aggravated by global economic uncertainty amid the spread of the coronavirus.
The recession is another setback for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive the economy and stave off a downgrade of the country’s sovereign debt to below investment grade by rating agency Moody’s.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the poor growth figures released today were not pleasing, but said that the signs that the economy was struggling were evident for some time.
Deputy President Davi Mabuza's comments about Eskom failing the economy come shortly after Stats SA released figures effectively placing the country in a technical recession.