February 2019

US-China Trade Tension Could Hit African Growth   There’s fresh doubt over prospects for negotiations 10 February — Persisting trade tension between the US and China could shave 0.7% from Africa’s GDP in 2019, a senior official at the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Friday. Hanan Morsy, director of the AfDB’s macroeconomic policy department, made […]

Watch This Space Commentary: 11 February 2019 There were two State of the Nation addresses last week. But one president acquitted himself eminently better than the other. President Trump’s speech was full of stretched facts and dubious figures. He inflated the number of jobs created under his presidency and boasted that wages are rising at

Foreign Investment Into SA Strengthened ‘Phenomenally’ in 2018, Cyril Ramaphosa Says  Ramaphosa said in his Sona that the government had set itself the target of being among the top 50 global performers in terms of the annual Ease of doing Business report 07 February 2019 – The government is to continue its drive to attract

South African Business Confidence Index Falls in January February 6 South Africa’s business confidence was stable in January, with investors seeing progress in the economic and political reform as stalling while activity in the real economy remained sluggish, a survey showed on Wednesday. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) monthly business confidence

Rand Surges to Best January in 33 years… 5 February 2019 What a week for the rand!  After a stagnant few weeks, hovering in the R13.50-R14.00 trading range, the rand made its move in pulling to the best level of 2018, to conclude its best January in decades.  This just proved again that you cannot

Political Risks and Economic Downturn Threaten Emerging Markets 5 February 2019 Businesses face two major pitfalls in 2019: the economic downturn and political risks, according to credit insurer Coface. In a new report, it states: “This global environment has contrasting effects on emerging economies. The slowdown in growth in the eurozone (+1.6 % forecast for

A New Dawn for the NPA? Commentary: 4 February 2019 The rand emerged as the clear winner last week, with the US Fed reiterating at its policy meeting that it would be patient in waiting to hike interest rates. Such dovish talk always bodes well for emerging markets and reflective of this, the rand has

Producer Inflation Slows More Than Expected 31 January 2019 December’s substantial drop in fuel prices translated into a far sharper slowdown in producer inflation than anticipated by economists. Farm and factory gate inflation, as measured by the annual change in the producer price index (PPI), decelerated to 5.2% in December from November’s 6.8%. The economists’

South Africa’s Trade Surplus Widens in December 31 Jan 2019 South Africa’s trade balance recorded a surplus of 17.17 billion rand ($1 billion) in December from a revised 3.29 billion rand surplus in November, official data showed on Thursday.  Exports fell by 13.4 percent on a month-on-month basis to 102.75 billion rand in December, while