Tag: economic growth

With economic growth considered the main driver of corporate travel, emerging economies such as South Africa are increasingly adding to the international pool of business travellers. Predicting positive growth in 2020, analysts say there is good news for South African SMEs, whose bargaining power they see rising with the market’s size and spend.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered a macabre Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBSP) to Parliament on October 30. The MTBPS communicates to government and the people the economic context of the country and fiscal spending priorities over the coming three years. (It does not include detailed spending plans or tax proposals, which are left to the main budget in February.)

According to the latest Employment Outlook Survey, South African employers report soft hiring intentions for the last quarter of the year. While 10% of employers anticipate an increase in payrolls, 6% expect a decrease and 82% forecast no change.

Finance minister Tito Mboweni’s new economic strategy paper is a refreshing, much needed breath of fresh air for an economy struggling for oxygen. The paper is replete with common sense proposals all aimed at achieving the economic growth South Africa desperately needs. We have been stumbling along a low-growth path of high taxes, kilometres of red-tape, wealth redistribution, and anti-individualism for far too long. If Mboweni’s paper can be taken as a true step in a new direction, a direction of more individual freedom, South Africa will see green shoots of recovery almost immediately.

The latest iteration of the NHI Bill has confirmed what South Africans have known for more than a decade: that taxes will need to rise to fund the government’s unworkable and unfeasible NHI scheme. During these dire economic times, the NHI tax will be the final nail in the coffin for cash-strapped consumers struggling to make ends meet.

Nedbank says structural reforms aimed at stemming the current economic and fiscal deterioration in SA need to be implemented with greater urgency. Its call came as it reported muted growth in interim earnings and trimmed its full-year guidance due to weaker than expected economic growth this year.

South Africa’s equity market capitalisation equates to more than 200% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the highest proportion in the world and a level that is simply not sustainable.

The go-to guide for every young black entrepreneur! The 7 Things Every Young Black Entrepreneur Should Know is a practical and inspirational guidebook aimed at empowering the next generation of young black entrepreneurs.

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 20 June. The speech was filled with rousing language as well as conciliatory offers to work together with members of the opposition. Unfortunately, no new details of his ostensible reform agenda were released, including details of how his dream for South Africa will come about.

Stats SA’s April Statistics of Liquidations and Insolvencies paint a very grim picture. The number of business liquidations increased by 53.1% between April 2018 and April 2019. The number of insolvencies increased by 30.1% between March 2018 and March 2019.