Tag: inflation

Excise taxes on beer have become a contentious issue, raising concerns about their impact on consumers, producers, and the economy. Adjusting tax policies can be challenging, though some amendments are more accepted than others.

Just when you thought your travel budget was sorted for 2025, new corporate travel trends data from our Consulting Q3 2024 Business Travel Report might have you reaching for your calculator. Here's why. Business class fares are jumping, and flights are packed. Travel managers are facing tough conversations about rising costs.

South Africans welcome the StatsSA announcement that inflation has fallen to 3.8%, the lowest since March 2021. However, this decrease will not necessarily lead to immediate price reductions. As a result, consumers will keep searching for specials, loyalty programmes, and discounts. These strategies help them stretch their money further.

Despite unprecedented external headwinds, MultiChoice achieved positive operational outcomes. Most notably, currency depreciation reduced trading profit by ZAR7 billion. This impact was felt over the last 18 months. However, through active interventions, MultiChoice navigated these challenges effectively. These efforts spanned the six months ending 30 September 2024 (1H FY25).

The vidcast dives into sovereign wealth funds and how they work. We unpack the requirements for a good fund, the risks to implementation and the overall benefits to the economy. We also posture various ways of potentially implementing such a fund in South Africa.

It is no secret to everyday consumers and industry professionals that South Africa’s retail industry has faced many obstacles throughout the years. Between the rise in load shedding hours, the extended economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, poor infrastructure, inflation, constrained consumer spending and unemployment, SA’s retail giants have certainly had to overcome some tough challenges.

We live in a volatile world where geopolitical risks, economic inflation, natural disasters and an increasingly complex regulatory environment are applying pressures on all fronts, including the insurance sector. Underwriting requirements are becoming stringent, and prospective clients are having to provide far more granular information about their portfolio of risks as well as risk mitigation measures, while reduced capacity and insurer appetite for certain classes of risks remains a real concern.

Small and Medium Enterprises are the cornerstone of the global economy. The 2024 United Nations General Assembly designated June 27 as "Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day" to raise awareness of their contributions toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - specifically SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure).

The introduction of the two-pot system, together with possible interest rate cuts, decent momentum in wages and lower inflation, could boost consumer confidence and drive an increase in spending in the months ahead. This is expected to be positive for domestic retailers, particularly discretionary names (clothing and furniture mainly).

In this vidcast, we share our thoughts on the decision to withdraw funds from the new savings pot as well as other changes coming into effect under the two-pot retirement amendments. We also look into the possible implications of Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on market. Then we discuss South Africa's latest inflation print, before wrapping up with a look at Shein's lawsuit against Temu.