Economy / General

Business insolvencies in South Africa rise by 21.5%

Employment declined in 2Q21

After a gradual improvement since hard lockdown in 2Q20, employment in the formal non-agricultural sectors of the economy, as shown by the Quarterly Employment Survey, has slowed in 2Q21.

Interest rates still on hold but scales start tipping towards a hike

The SARB Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 3.5% in a unanimous decision. This outcome was in line with the consensus survey expectations, as well as the market prices. As such, there was minimal impact on bond yields, the rand, and equities.

A further sign of resilience as agriculture posts a strong GDP rebound in 2Q2021

Statistics SA’s latest economic growth numbers came out stronger than expected in the 2nd quarter of 2021 underpinned by robust gains in the transport sector, personal services, as well as agriculture with quarterly increases of 6.9%, 2.5%, and 6.2% respectively.