Tag: Sanisha Packirisamy
GDP decline: COVID-19 growth slump hits the economy in Q2
Real GDP surprised the market consensus to the downside in the second quarter of 2020 as the effects of the pandemic and the associated lockdown measures ate into economic activity. Growth contracted by 51% q/q saar and printed lower than the August 2020 Reuters Econometer median growth forecast of 44.5% p/p saar.
Government adds to COVID-19 economic relief
We have prepared a short summary and useful infographic following the president’s announcement of a R500 billion economic and social relief package in his address on Tuesday night 21 April 2020. The source of the remainder of the R500 billion financing outside of the R200 billion loan guarantee scheme, budget reprioritisation of R130 billion and around R100 billion from multilateral sources and global partners
Business confidence dips to lowest in 20 years
The Bureau of Economic Research released the Business Confidence Index (BCI) for third quarter of 2019. The index plummeted to a 20 year low of 21 index points. The BCI remained unchanged between the first and second quarter of 2019, before weakening in the third quarter. The BCI has trailed below the 50 neutral mark (a value above 50 signals optimism and pessimism is indicated when the value dips below 50) for the 19th consecutive quarter.
