South Africa's economy faces severe headwinds in the coming weeks as load shedding intensifies, unions threaten to shut down industries, and the Reserve Bank looks set to hike interest rates.
Recent building confidence data from FNB and the Bureau of Economic Research shows that building confidence in the residential sector and non-residential sector has changed significantly.
Weeks of load shedding and the flooding in KwaZulu Natal are expected to be the key drivers behind a decline in economic growth for the second quarter of this year, say economists at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) -…
Consumers are in for a reprieve in the coming months in South Africa as economic indicators point to food price inflation stabilising, while end-month data from the Central Energy Fund shows a likely petrol price cut for September.
More South Africans are leaving for one of three major hotspot countries and there is no sign of the trend slowing.
Economist warn that a BIG is unsustainable as it could drive the high tax paying population out of hte country.
As interest rates increase to curb rising inflation, coupled with fuel and load shedding, among other challenges – is putting pressure on the profit margins of small businesses in South Africa, says Andiswa Bata, co-head of SME at FNB.
As food and fuel increases continue to bite, workers and labour unions are asking for wage hikes well above inflation to keep up with the cost of living.
While many businesses and households have found ways to cope with the lower stages of load shedding, beyond stage 2, the negative impact on the economy amplifies with each additional stage, say economists at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER).
South Africa has largely adapted to stage 2 load shedding, say economists at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), but beyond these levels, households, businesses, and the economy at large simply cannot cope.
© 2022, Instive. All rights reserved
