South Africa, producer of 30% of the gold in circulation today, is unable to profit fully from record prices for the precious metal as a crippling electricity crisis hampers production. The price of gold passed the 000-an-ounce mark for the first time on Thursday.
South Africa’s new basket of producer price inflation stood at 10,4% year-on-year in January, official data showed on Thursday. Statistics South Africa said the headline number represented domestic output which measured 9,5% in December. On a monthly basis, PPI increased by 1%.
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/ 29 February 2008
South Africa’s monthly trade deficit widened to R10,2-billion in January, compared with December’s R1,2-billion gap, the South African Revenue Service said on Friday. Compared with the previous month, exports fell by 8% while imports increased by 13%, largely due to a rise in imports of minerals products and machinery.
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/ 27 February 2008
South Africa’s targeted CPIX inflation rate quickened to 8,8% year-on-year in January from 8,6% in December, above forecasts, data showed on Wednesday. The all-items consumer price index (CPI) increased by an annual rate of 9,3%, compared to 9% in December, Statistics South Africa said.
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/ 20 February 2008
South Africa is sitting on gold, platinum and other minerals that are selling at record prices on world markets, yet its economy is, quite literally, underpowered. The rand, the worst performing currency this year, has lost 12% against the dollar in the past month since the country was hit with electricity shortages that kept mines from working.
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/ 6 February 2008
Results of the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence for the first half of 2008 show that consumer confidence in South Africa remains optimistic, despite a minor decrease from last year. Out of a possible score of 100, the South African index score decreased from 86,5 for the first half of 2007 to 83,7, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
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/ 28 January 2008
South Africa’s mining industry could lose up to R9,2-billion in revenue and the country’s GDP could take a knock of up to R5,6-billion as a result of the power restrictions imposed on mines by Eskom last week. T-Sec economist Mike Schussler estimates that the mining industry is losing about R330-million in revenues a day.
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/ 26 January 2008
The ”nightmare” of South Africa’s major gold, platinum and diamond mines shutting down because of power failures became a reality on Friday. ”Tens of millions of rands a day are being lost. It’s a nightmare,” said T-sec chief economist Mike Schussler. The JSE gold mining sub-sector closed almost 6% lower on Friday. The move contributed to the gold price rising.
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/ 6 December 2007
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni on Thursday raised the repo rate by 50 basis points following a two-day meeting of the bank’s monetary policy committee. The increase pushes the repo rate to 11%, the prime overdraft rate to 14,5% and the tightening cycle that began in June last year to 400 basis points.
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/ 6 December 2007
Urgent action is needed to improve South Africa’s education, economist Mike Schussler said on Thursday. The country’s education standards needed to be raised "dramatically", he said at the release of the sixth <i>South African Employment Report</i> by the United Associations of South Africa trade union.
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/ 30 November 2007
South Africa’s monthly trade deficit jumped to a record R14,73-billion in October, compared to September’s R4,3-billion shortfall, the South African Revenue Service said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters last week had forecast a deficit of R6,8-billion.
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/ 29 November 2007
The continued strong rises in credit extension provided little counter to the shocking inflation figures released on Wednesday and the chances of an interest-rate hike next week now seemed an almost assured fact, the Efficient Group said on Thursday. This comes after the South African Reserve Bank released both the October monetary aggregates and credit extension figures.
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/ 27 November 2007
Johannesburg has been ranked as one of the top 50 cities in the world that are hubs of the new worldwide economy, according to an index released on Tuesday. Johannesburg — the only African city to make the top 50 — was ranked 47th in the MasterCard ”Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index”.
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/ 28 October 2007
As South Africa’s economic growth slows and inflation heats up, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will present a medium-term budget on Tuesday with decidedly less to smile about than six months ago. While analysts expect Manuel to be more cautious in his revenue predictions, they believe past prudence has left him with enough room for manoeuvre.
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/ 24 October 2007
The increase in South Africa’s CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) for metro and other areas, which is used by the South African Reserve Bank for its inflation target, was up 6,7% year-on-year (y/y) in September from 6,3% y/y in August, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.
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/ 26 September 2007
South Africa’s targeted CPIX inflation rate slowed to 6,3% in the year to August from 6,5% in July, data showed on Wednesday, slightly above forecasts. Statistics South Africa also said that the all-items consumer price index (CPI) increased by an annual rate of 6,8%, compared to 7% in July.
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/ 1 September 2007
South African unions have wrested hefty wage increases from employers, wielding strikes as weapons at a time of high inflation and strong performance in the key mining sector and government surpluses. The strength of unions, traditionally allied with the left wing of the African National Congress (ANC), could become critical with a looming showdown over who will succeed President Thabo Mbeki as president of the ANC.