Phumza Macanda
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/ 22 January 2008

Power cuts may spook investors

An electricity shortage that has led to frequent power disruptions in South Africa could chase away investors, denting growth and portfolio inflows and weakening the rand. Economists estimate the cost to the economy has run into hundreds of millions of rands, adding to the woes brought on by the falls in financial markets.

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/ 30 October 2007

SA sees budget surplus over next three years

South Africa will record a budget surplus for the next three years due to higher-than-expected tax revenues and would invest more to boost infrastructure, the National Treasury said on Tuesday. In its Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, the Treasury said robust economic growth over the past five years had provided for a more expansionary fiscal stance.

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/ 21 August 2007

Mboweni sees general price pressures

General price pressures are evident in the South African economy, which is growing above its potential, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday. Mboweni also told students in the northern city of Polokwane that interest rates were the only tool to tame generalised inflation, raising the possibility that rates may have to rise further this year.

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/ 26 July 2007

Foreign-shopper flood may stoke SA inflation

South African shopkeepers are benefiting from a flood of people crossing the border to stock up on goods no longer available in crisis-hit Zimbabwe, but there could be trouble in store on the inflation front. ”We’ve seen a huge escalation in the number of Zimbabweans,” said Pieter Koekemoer, manager of a shop on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border town of Musina.

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/ 21 June 2007

SA household spending growth eases

Growth in South African household spending slowed to 7,5% year-on-year in the first quarter from 7,75% in the last quarter of last year, while debt reached record levels, the central bank said on Thursday. A household spending boom has contributed to high economic growth of 5% last year, but it has also added to inflationary pressures.

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/ 13 June 2007

SA April retail sales growth slows

South Africa’s retail sales growth slowed sharply to 5,4% year-on-year in April, official data showed, suggesting higher interest rates may finally be biting into stubbornly high consumer spending. Consumer demand has been the main driver of faster growth in Africa’s biggest economy over the past couple of years, but it has also added to inflationary pressures.

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/ 6 June 2007

SA manufacturing slows in April

South Africa’s manufacturing output growth slowed to 3,8% year-on-year in April, suggesting the key sector could put a brake on economic growth this year. tatistics South Africa said growth in volume terms eased from an upwardly revised 5,5% in March, with month-on-month production contracting a seasonally adjusted 1,9%.

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/ 15 May 2007

SA lenders drum up clients ahead of credit law

South Africa’s credit providers are racing to sign up clients before a new law makes it illegal for them to extend credit to consumers deemed unlikely to pay back the money. Lenders are resorting to mailing credit cards to prospective clients and offering them pre-approved loans high-pressure phone calls ahead of the June 1 introduction of the National Credit Act.

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/ 4 April 2007

SA oil-import bulge is no blip

South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni has sought to soothe markets rattled by a sudden surge in the country’s current-account deficit, but his view that the bulge is merely a blip does not fit with the figures. Hundreds of thousands of new cars bought last year helped push oil imports higher in the fourth quarter.