Tag: interest rates

Rolling blackouts and the recently imposed 18.65% Eskom tariff hikes from April next month are likely to place additional stress on the South African consumer and businesses to the extent that further bankruptcies are inevitable. With the prospect of higher interest rates, low growth and still high inflation, many companies could face corporate failures particularly in the early part of 2023.

As we move into 2023, many small and medium enterprise (SME) owners and leaders anticipate another difficult year. Yet they are comfortable knowing they've endured a lot since the start of the pandemic. SMEs have survived, and some have even thrived, despite COVID-19, unrest, extreme weather, the global energy crisis, and the return of high inflation and rising interest rates.

Several advantages make owning commercial or business property a viable prospect for small businesses. These include the benefit of asset appreciation, enjoying full control over interior design and renovations, security of tenure and avoiding above-inflation rent hikes.

Earned wage access (EWA) is rising in prominence as a powerful HR tool for employers to retain and attract talent. This statement is supported by a new report issued by J.P Morgan titled Financial Inclusion Through Payments. We are a contributing author to the report.

Interest rates have gone up several times in the last few months in South Africa, and it looks like they will keep rising for the foreseeable future. So, this begs the question: what are interest rates, why are they rising, and how do they affect you?

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to significant shifts in the residential property market. In the beginning, many were scaling back to clamber back on costs, however, as interest rates continued to dip between 2020 and 2021, many started to upgrade their homes and invest in bigger spaces.

Central banks around the world are hiking interest rates to battle rising inflation. Recessions are now expected in the US, UK and Europe in the next year. Interest rates around the world are rising at an alarming pace, as central banks admit that inflation is becoming more ingrained, rather than just a series of transient shocks.

Economic forecasters agree that the world is currently in a stagflation cycle with the possibility of a recession on the cards and commercial property owners who don’t take appropriate action and adjust their thinking stand to lose considerable value on their investments.

It's the year 2022 in the eighth month, and the country has emerged out of lockdown as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Petrol prices have skyrocketed to unprecedented highs, load shedding intensified and interest rates are sitting at 5.5% - the highest since 2016.

As countries realise that inflation is linked to the shortfalls of globalisation, the world may see more 'slowbalisation' and 'sticky inflation'. Slowbalisation occurs when countries start diversifying their supply from single to multiple trading partners, and local manufacturers.