February 2020

14 February 2020 – Trade conditions remained tight in January, with 57% of the respondents to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Sacci’s) Trade Conditions Survey having experienced negative conditions. Fifty-four percent of the respondents also expect conditions to remain depressed in the next six months. The seasonally adjusted Trade Activity Index (TAI) […]

13 February 2020 – South African retail sales fell 0.4% year-on-year in December following an increase of 2.6% in November, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. On a month-on-month basis, sales were down 3.1%. They were up 0.8% in the three months to the end of December compared with the same period last year, the

12 February 2020 – Manufacturing production decreased by 5,9% in December 2019 compared with December 2018. The largest negative contributions were made by the following divisions: · motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment (-24,9% and contributing -1,4 percentage points); · petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products (-5,9% and contributing -1,4 percentage points); · wood and wood

11 February 2020 – After a torrid 2019 for the South African economy, characterised by minimal real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, this year was expected to start on shaky ground. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) in a short summary of its economic prospects, on Monday said the low GDP growth was compounded by

10 February 2020 – So Brexit is a done deal. At midnight on Friday 31 January 2020 the UK finally left the European Union.  With Britain flying solo again for the first time in decades, what does it mean for the South African economy? Perhaps surprisingly, given all the political posturing and hysteria, the answer

7 February 2020 – A Global Insolvency Index released by Euler Hermes, which covers 44 countries that account for 87% of global GDP shows that the upward trend in business insolvencies continued in 2019 for the third time in a row: +9% year on year. This year, business failures will rise again for the fourth

6 February 2020 – The Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) is looking forward to the launch of their IRMSA South Africa Risk Report 2020 on 18 February.  This will be the sixth edition of this report and looking back over the past five editions it is disappointing to see that so many risks

5 February 2020 – The Absa PMI fell more than expected in January with the subindex tracking expected business conditions sliding to its worst level in over a year Business conditions in the manufacturing sector deteriorated more than anticipated in January, with expectations for the coming months souring to their lowest levels in more than

4 February 2020 – Balance of Trade in South Africa averaged R135.30-million from 1957 until 2019, reaching an all-time high of R17088.51-million in May of 2016 and a record low of R-26858.61-million in January of 2018. In December 2019, trade surplus rose to R14.8- billion from a downwardly revised R5.6-billion in November and overshooting market

3 February 2020 – Exports: The annual rate of change of the Unit Value Indices (UVI) for exported commodities remained unchanged at -3,2% in November 2019. From October 2019 to November 2019 the UVI for exported commodities decreased by 0,4%. The main contributors to the annual rate of -3,2% were other transportable goods (-2,6 percentage