November 2019

15 November 2019 – Ratings agency Moody’s yesterday slashed South Africa’s economic growth outlook for 2020 from 1.5percent to 1percent, citing global factors that were weighing-in on emerging economies. Moody’s said while there were indications that the country’s monetary policy direction was tightening, the trade tensions and geopolitical risk had injected additional uncertainty, making long-term […]

14 November 2019 – AGRI SA HAS issued a stern warning that the prevailing drought conditions could collapse rural economies and decimate the country’s entire agricultural industry. The lobby group said in a drought report yesterday that farmers faced potential foreclosure by banks and that those whose farms would not be attached would be unable

13 November 2019 – The agricultural body that represents nearly 28,000 commercial farmers across the country is calling on the government for financial aid to address the debilitating drought wreaking havoc across the country, which has cost the industry billions of rand. The industry contributes 2% to the economy, which is projected to grow 0.6%

Category: International trade, economics and financial markets​​​ 12 November 2019 – South Africa exported R5.164 billion more in goods than what they imported. While this is good news it is not always the case and when the commodity price cycle turns negative, South Africa’s reliance on commodity exports hurts the country as less is fetched

11 November 2019 – Africa is poised to become the “land of opportunity” for bond and equity investors should the US and China strike a trade deal, Bank of America (BofA) says. “At a minimum, we think the removal of tariff and recession fears at least until the November 2020 US elections should lead to

8 November 2019 – President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that government has secured international and local investment commitments to the tune of R363 billion in his closing address at the second SA Investment Conference in Sandton on Wednesday night. Following pledges by business to invest around R300 billion in the country at last year’s inaugural investment

7 November 2019 – The decrease of 16c/ℓ in the price of diesel that came into effect on Wednesday could assist farmers with their cash flow and profit margins. This was according to Dr Requier Wait, head of economics and trade at Agri SA, who said that according to the figures from the Department of

6 November 2019 – South African consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level since Cyril Ramaphosa became President as the outlook for the economy dimmed. The consumer-confidence index fell to -7 in the third quarter from 5 in the previous three-month period, FirstRand’s First National Bank said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. That’s the weakest level

5 November 2019 – Manufacturing activity recovered in October, improving on the previous month’s revised figures and beating market expectations. However, sentiment in the industry remains subdued thanks to prevailing difficult business conditions, weighed on by the worry about global growth and electricity shortages in SA. The seasonally adjusted Absa purchasing managers index (PMI) rose

4 November 2019 – Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) on Friday 1, November changed the outlook on the Government of South Africa’s ratings to negative from stable and affirmed the Baa3 long-term foreign-currency and local-currency issuer ratings. Moody’s also affirmed South Africa’s Baa3 long-term foreign-currency and local-currency senior unsecured debt ratings, its (P)Baa3 senior unsecured medium-term