March 2019

Business Confidence Falls to Almost Two-Year Low Sentiment among retailers and builders falls the most. 14 March 2019: South African business confidence fell to the lowest level in almost two years in the first quarter, with more than two-thirds of respondents dissatisfied with current conditions. A gauge measuring sentiment declined to 28 in the first […]

SA Well Placed to Forge New Deals with EU and UK 13 March 2019: With Brexit set to disrupt European relations, beneficial new partnerships with Africa are a distinct possibility The international community remains in turbulence, but of special significance to SA — itself not without challenges — is the worrying state of affairs in

Global Growth Weakening Commentary: 12 March The Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) has revised its global growth outlook to 3.3% and 3.4% for 2019 and 2020 respectively. The downward revisions are attributed to ongoing trade tensions, Brexit uncertainties and declining business and consumer confidence. Trade growth has slowed, from 5.25% in 2017, to

Slightly Better Manufacturing Figures Expected Domestic demand remains fragile and export orders are under pressure 13 March 2019: Data is expected to reveal that not much improved in key economic sectors at the start of this year as the dampening effect of power supply challenges and higher administered prices continued to play out. The mining

SARB Still Sees 2019 Growth at 1.7% Sarb governor, Lesetja Kganyago says rising fuel and electricity prices posed a domestic risk to the inflation outlook. 6 March: South Africa’s central bank (SARB) still expects the economy to grow by 1.7% this year and 2% in 2020, governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Wednesday after data the previous

UK Says Brexit Talks at ‘Critical Point’ 6 March 2019 Britain’s Brexit negotiators returned to Brussels on Tuesday vowing to “get a deal over the line” as they seek European Union support to break the deadlock in London as this month’s divorce deadline looms. UK attorney general Geoffrey Cox and Brexit minister Stephen Barclay began

Stats SA Announces Tepid GDP Growth Results for 2018 5 March 2019: Stats SA is expected to announce that SA’s economy only grew by around 0.7% in 2018, putting the country near the bottom of emerging markets and Africa countries for 2018 in terms of GDP growth. The national statistical service will announced SA’s GDP figures for

Trump Declares a Truce (for now) Commentary: 4 March US President Donald Trump has made it official: he will delay any increases in US tariffs on Chinese imports until he and Chinese President Xi Jinping can meet to seal a deal. But let’s not pop the champagne corks just yet. While agreement seems to be

South Africa’s Trade Statistics for January 2019 28 February 2019  SARS releases trade statistics for January 2019 Pretoria, 28 February 2019 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for January 2019 recording a trade deficit of R13.08 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN). The