July 2019

Agricultural Community Gets Warming Warning 17 July 2019 – The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (Fanrpan) has warned that farmers should prepare for a general rise in temperature of 1.5 degrees, that the output of produce could plummet by as much as 50%, and that income derived from harvests could be down […]

Significant Risks for SA’s Economic Outlook – Treasury Moody’s lowers forecast for 2019 economic growth to 1%. 16 July 2019 – South Africa faces “significant risks” to its fiscal outlook, including weak economic growth and uncertain revenue collection, the National Treasury said in its 2019/20 annual performance report, put before parliament on Wednesday. Africa’s most industrialised

Interest Rate Cut on Cards for Constrained Consumers In June the Reserve Bank signalled its willingness to drop the repo rates, saying policy has not been as accommodative as it could have been 15 July 2019 – South Africans could see the first interest rate cut in a year this week, which will provide some

African Trade Agreement ‘A Big Win for SA’ 12 July 2019 – Optimists estimate that the trade arrangements would see intra-African trade being boosted by 60% by 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa believes the newly launched African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) will catapult the economies of many African countries on to a higher growth

Trade Conditions Still Under Pressure 11 July 2019 – Trade conditions remained under pressure in June, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Sacci’s) Trade Conditions Survey shows. The Trade Activity Index (TAI) dipped by three index points to 38 in June, but the Trade Expectations Index (TEI) remained flat at 48 points. All

  Credit Risk to Increase in Second Half of 2019   10 July 2019 – 2018 saw a significant increase in the number and value of credit insurance claims in South Africa year-on-year. In 2019, credit risk is expected to remain relatively unchanged with a possible slight improvement, says Paul Jooste, Director at Prestige Credit

Mining and Manufacturing Under the Spotlight 9 July 2019 – SA’s production sectors will fall under the spotlight this week as key data on mining and manufacturing performance is released by Stats SA on Thursday. Manufacturing reported a surprise 4.6% growth year on year in April, the swiftest increase since June 2016. But waning demand

Trade Optimism Fades as New Threats Emerge Commentary: 8 July 2019 – There was a raft of manufacturing data out last week. Factory activity shrunk across much of Europe and Asia in June while US manufacturers’ output grew at the slowest pace in more than two years. The downbeat numbers point to slowing global growth

Africa to Decide on Free-Trade Zone: What’s at Stake? 5 July 2019 – African leaders will decide on Sunday which nation will host the headquarters for a continental free-trade zone that aims to eventually unite the continent’s 1.27 billion people and its $3.4-trillion nominal gross domestic product. Leaders at the African Union summit in Niger

Business Confidence Edges Higher in June The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry has released the reading, but will release a full report explaining why business confidence has inched up on Friday 4 July 2019 – Business confidence climbed slightly in June, but remains lower than it was a year ago. The SA Chamber of