Helmo Preuss
Guest Author
No image available
/ 14 July 2004

Wholesale trade sales plunge in April

April’s wholesale sale statistics may be the first sign that the recent strong increase in consumer demand is slowing down, according to Efficient Group economist Nico Kelder. Real wholesale trade sales, excluding diamonds, in South Africa plunged by 9,2% in April from March after seasonal adjustment.

No image available
/ 7 July 2004

S&P assigns B rating to Mozambique

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services said on Wednesday it has assigned its B long-term and B short-term sovereign credit ratings to Mozambique. The outlook is positive. The ratings on Mozambique are supported by high export-led GDP growth — albeit from a low base — and strong donor support.

No image available
/ 9 June 2004

Report: SA media pay little attention to Aids

There is a growing danger that Aids is dropping off the South African media screen, an analysis by Media Tenor, the Institute for Media Analysis in Pretoria, showed. In terms of coverage of major topics, Aids receives only 0,1% more airtime or column inches than environmental issues, showing that South African media have lost their focus on this issue.

No image available
/ 9 June 2004

Interest rate news to come on Thursday

The South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) started at 9am on Wednesday, with a decision on interest rates expected at 3pm on Thursday. The unanimous forecast of economists is that this will be the third consecutive MPC meeting where no change in interest rates is announced.

No image available
/ 8 June 2004

Is the fuel-price policy a state secret?

One week after the South African government announced a change in its fuel-price policy by capping fuel-price increases for June, numerous requests to find out what the fuel-price policy will be after June have been unsuccessful, which begs the question as to whether there is in fact a fuel-price policy.

No image available
/ 4 June 2004

Business chamber awarded for Aids kit

The South African Chamber of Business has won a $20 000 award for its simple toolkit to assist small and medium enterprises address HIV/Aids in their workplaces. The chamber also won accolades for its strategy to monitor the implementation of this product through its chamber movement.