Star 2023-10-11

Growth for 2023 has been raised, but ongoing power crisis will be a drag in the entire region THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised South Africa’s growth forecast for 2023, but warned that the ongoing power crisis in the country will be a drag on growth in the sub- Saharan Africa region. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF said yesterday that South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) would inch higher to 0.9% in 2023, a 0.6 percentage point upward revision up from 0.3% previously forecast in July. This IMF growth projection is better than the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) forecast of 0.7%, and might give the central bank reason to be bullish at the monetary policy committee final meeting for the year next month. However,…

STATE risk insurer SA Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) has asked National Treasury for a six to eight year dividend payment hiatus to build up its reserves to at least R30 billion. The call was prompted by insurance payouts due to the historic July unrest to the tune of R31bn and the looming prospect of youth unemployment, which the entity deems imminent. Sasria CEO Mpumelelo Tyikwe said yesterday, that youth unemployment was a ticking time bomb amongst people who had the capacity to wreak immense destruction, and called for all sectors to address the challenge. “When we talk about State failure implications, it is the level of destruction that can occur and how we would be able to deal with it. There is an exceedingly high level of youth unemployment.…

SAPPI’S share price rose 4.1% to close at R45.17 on the JSE yesterday after it said that it had concluded the consultation process to close its Stockstadt Mill, Germany, and had started the consultation process on the potential closure of the Lanaken Mill in Belgium. The persistent global economic downturn was proving to be much tougher than anticipated, with depressed markets, geopolitical instability and weak economic growth combining to put significant pressure on Sappi, particularly in Europe, the firm said. In July it had announced the start of a consultation process on the possible closure of Stockstadt Mill, had agreed on the social plan for the employees and had now completed this process. An agreement had now been signed for the sale of the site, while its closure of…

THE TREASURY has extended the closing date for the Eskom Municipal Debt Relief Support Programme. In a statement it said yesterday that the closing date for the pro- gramme was set for September 30, but had now been extended to October 31 to accom- modate more municipalities into the pro- gramme. On March 31, the Treasury’s Inter- governmental Relations unit issued MFMA Circular No 124 as part of the Eskom Munici- pal Debt Relief. “The government’s debt relief package for Eskom is intended to im- prove the utility’s balance sheet and facili-tates the proposal for Eskom to write off municipal debt under strict conditions and with the guidance of the National Treasury. The primary problem the government wants to solve is Eskom’s financial and debt crisis which also requires a…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed that the government will implement evidence-driven policies to drive economic growth and create jobs as South Africa’s population has increased by 10.3 million since 2011. This comes as Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday released the results of its Census 2022, showing that the population of South Africa increased from 51.7m in 2011 to more than 62m in 2022; a growth rate of 1.8% in the intercensal period. This is the largest percentage change in population size since 1996. StatsSA said 50.5 million of South Africa’s population were black Africans. The median age nationally has increased by six-years, from 22-years-old in 1996 to 28-years-old in 2022. The South African population and housing census provides a mechanism for the country to take stock of the…

THE ZIMBABWE chamber of mines says softening metals prices are weighing down the viability of the key industry – in which units of South African resource groups, such as Impala Platinum (Implats), Anglo American Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater, among others, are major players – at a time costs have been mounting. Zimbabwe is the world’s number two producer of platinum and boasts significant reserves of other metals such as gold, lithium and chrome, and coal and diamonds, among others. Mineral exports have been pivotal in sustaining the Zimbabwean economy but the industry now says its viability is under threat. “The prices (of minerals) are coming down at a time the cost structure for the mining industry has increased, propped up by high electricity which went up by more than 40% in…