Ronald

2 October 2019 – South African bank Absa’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 41.6 index points in September from 45.7 in August, the second consecutive large fall which brought the index more than 10 points below July’s high of 52.1 points, a report showed on Tuesday. A PMI is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in […]

1 October 2019 – A weaker oil price in August, together with a solid jump in mining exports, helped to push SA’s trade balance from a deficit to a surprisingly large surplus. South Africa exported R6.84bn more than it imported in August, the SA Revenue Service reported on Monday. This was much better than expected: The

Commentary: 30 September 2019 – Last week was characterised by heightened levels of geopolitical risk. There continues to be fallout from the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, which knocked out 5% of world oil supply. While Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack, both Riyadh and Washington have blamed Iran, with

The total number of company liquidations grew 13.5% in August, according to Stats SA 30 September 2019 – Business liquidations and insolvencies continue to rise, according to Stats SA data released on Monday, underscoring an economy that is struggling to grow and facing business confidence at record lows. The total number of company liquidations grew

27 September 2019 – Producer inflation continued to slow in August, reaching 4.5% year on year, down from July’s 4.9%, Statistics SA said on Thursday. This continues a five-month easing streak, coming in slightly below a Bloomberg survey of economists that had expected it to reach 4.6%. Producer inflation — as measured by the producer

26 September 2019 – South Africa saw larger foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the second quarter than the first quarter as domestic firms received debt and equity funding from foreign parent companies, central bank data showed on Wednesday. Africa’s most industrialised economy had FDI inflows of R26.3-billion in the second quarter from inflows of

25 September 2019 – Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel says a new economic partnership agreement will ensure that trade between South Africa and the United Kingdom continues under the same terms in the event of a no-deal Brexit.  The Minister said this when he delivered a statement on Brexit and the impact it will

19 September 2019 – Trade conditions improved marginally in August and expectations for the next six months suggest further improvement is likely, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) reports. Its latest Trade Activity Index (TAI), published on Wednesday, increased by two index points month-on-month to 42 in August, while the Trade Expectations

18 September 2019 – For the first time since 2017, South African private companies have invested more back into the local economy.  Statistics South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) results, released last week, showed that gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) increased by 6,1% in the second quarter of 2019, following five consecutive quarters of decline.  GFCF