October 2019

17 October 2019 – Retail trade sales moderated by 1.1% year-on-year in August, following a 2% increase in July, figures released on Wednesday by Statistics South Africa showed, as the sector continues to come under pressure from the weak economy. The main contributors to the slight growth were sales in household furniture, appliances and equipment. […]

16 October 2019 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered South Africa’s economic growth forecast for 2019 by 0.5 percentage points, from 1.2 percent forecast in April to 0.7 percent, as global growth also slowed down. In the October World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, the IMF said growth in South Africa was expected to be weaker

15 October 2019 – Millions of people in Southern Africa face food insecurity as extreme weather patterns take a toll on agricultural production Southern Africa has felt the brunt of the global climate crisis in the past year, with extreme weather patterns taking a toll on agricultural production and food security. The numbers coming out

14 October 2019 – The global slowdown is making it more difficult for SA to drag itself out of its low-growth trap Signs that the slowdown in global economic activity is deepening, and that major global central banks lack the firepower to fight back, come at the worst possible time for SA’s fragile economy, as

11 October 2019 – Dismal mining and manufacturing figures for August have raised the prospect of a third-quarter economic contraction. SA’s mining sector suffered a surprise 3.2% year-on-year contraction in August, worse than the most pessimistic forecast by economists, confirming that the national economy is struggling to build momentum. Economists polled by Bloomberg expected production

10 October 2019 – The World Bank has lowered its 2019 growth forecast for South Africa to 0.8%, which is half of a percentage point below the bank’s April forecast of 1.3%. The downward revision is contained in the twentieth edition of the bank’s Africa’s Pulse publication, which has been published twice a year for

9 October 2019 – The regional rainfall pattern for the 2019/20 agricultural season is encouraging as parts of Southern Africa are expected to receive adequate rainfall in the first half of the season. This is an improvement from the previous season where less rainfall resulted in adverse impacts on agriculture, water resources and hydropower generation

8 October 2019 – Emerging market volatility is expected this week as the US and China enter another round of trade talks around tariff appeasement on Thursday and Friday, coming as it does amid hopes from around the world that a semblance of sanity will prevail. But according to reports, Beijing isn’t showing any signs

Commentary: 7 October 2019 A Bloomberg analysis has shown that the Brazilian real will be the largest emerging-market benefactor in the event of the conclusion of a US-China trade deal, while the Thai baht and the Israeli shekel are among those which will be the least responsive. In general, commodity-exporter currencies such as the real

Economists expect Stats SA to report another contraction in manufacturing output 7 October 2019 – Manufacturing and mining production are in focus in the week ahead, with the performance of these major sectors of the economy expected to be disappointing as they battle a tough global environment and an uncertain domestic outlook. The median forecast