Tag: inflation

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously decided to decrease the repo rate by 100 basis points to 5.25%. This somewhat unprecedented move was a direct result of the deterioration in economic conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic experienced in South Africa and across the globe.

There is a distinct lack of good news at the moment, and certainty is in short supply. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Europe, the Middle East and North America, and we have to assume it will continue spreading at a rapid rate.

As we approach Budget Speech Day on 26 February 2020, many people are wondering what kind of rabbit Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is going to pull out of his hat this year. Most commentators will talk about ‘bracket-creep’, sin taxes and an increase of 1% to the VAT rate. But the Minister needs to start becoming a little more creative.

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.)

Many of us would like to put money aside for saving and investing but struggle to remain committed and disciplined each month. Being part of a savings club is a great way to reach your financial goals. Saving can be difficult on your own, but South Africans have always been creative when it comes to solving problems. To help us get into the habit of regular saving, over 11.5 million of us have joined savings clubs and stokvels.

From Trump’s trade wars and Brexit woes to the looming threat of a credit rating downgrade in South Africa, rising waves of political and market volatility have left more and more investors wondering whether it wouldn’t be better to keep assets safely tucked away in cash.

There are many concerns swirling around South African investors at the moment, making it a particularly tricky time to establish a level of strategy conviction. Major geopolitical events could have any number of outcomes and in South Africa (SA), pervasive uncertainty seems to be the watchword as we inch towards elections in May. 

There has been a lot of hype around the proposed National Health Insurance Bill, 2018 (NHI Bill) and the numerous implications for South African citizens. Little has been said, however, about how the NHI Bill will impact on the provision of medical aid benefits in the employee context.

The world is fast approaching an incredible milestone in human development: for the first time in history more than half the world’s population will be middle class.

Prof Danie Meyer | Senior researcher and lecturer: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences | North-West University | daniel.meyer@nwu.ac.za | www.nwu.ac.za | Despite the surprisingly...