Evan Pickworth
Guest Author
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/ 11 September 2006

US housing slump an ‘indirect’ risk for SA

First National Bank’s property economist John Loos says there is a potential indirect impact to come in the local housing market from the property slowdown in the United States. Loos says that from 1999, the local housing boom was driven by the combination of a massive reduction in local interest rates along with accelerating economic growth.

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/ 7 September 2006

Mboweni: Economy unbalanced due to demand

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday that while he thought South Africa’s interest rates were too high, the sociology of the previous lower rate environment meant he had to raise rates to control inflation. He said the combination of household debt, loans and advances to the private sector and house-price growth meant that South Africa was beginning to have an unbalanced economy.

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/ 6 September 2006

World Bank: SA’s complex tax system a concern

South Africa has slipped one place in the World Bank and International Finance Corporation’s <i>Doing Business 2007</i> report to 29th overall from 28th last year, with co-author of the report, Caralee McLiesh, saying one of the key areas for reform needed in South Africa is the complex tax system. "There are not level taxes and there is a lot of administration involved in the tax system."

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/ 6 September 2006

SA falls short on pace of reform

While South Africa ranks as the top country in Africa for ease of doing business, it is nowhere to be found as far as the pace of reform goes in Wednesday’s World Bank-International Finance Corporation report. Reforms would have simplified business regulations, strengthened property rights, eased tax burdens, increased access to credit, and reduced the cost of exporting and importing.

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/ 6 September 2006

Doing business in Africa now easier

A new report by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation has found that doing business in Africa has become easier thanks to an increase in the pace of reform to encourage business, jobs, and growth and for the first time Africa has made it into the top three among reforming regions.

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/ 30 August 2006

Supply side pressures weigh heavily on rates

South Africa’s worse-than-expected consumer inflation data released shortly after the Reserve Bank released equally bad private sector credit extension data on Wednesday has increased expectations of more rate hikes. Inflation has been rising over the second and third quarters of 2006, a development which has prompted the Reserve Bank to become far more hawkish regarding interest rate policy.

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/ 29 August 2006

Economists predict July PPI at at 7,5%

The increase in South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) is expected to have risen to 7,5% year-on-year in July, unchanged from the surprise 7,5% increase in June, a survey of 12 economists by I-Net Bridge has found. Forecasts ranged from 7% y/y to 9,3% y/y, although only four of the 12 economists surveyed expected the increase to be above 7,5%.

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/ 24 August 2006

Bottom feeders push JSE 73 points

The JSE edged into the black by 73 points just after midday on Thursday after being down in early trade as traders began to eye value at the lower levels. This small fillip came after profit-taking on mining heavyweights Anglo and BHP Billiton saw the JSE end in the red by 333 points on Wednesday after two days of strong gains.