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The economy sweats – BankservAfrica Index

10 September 2014

Real economic transactions are declining at the fastest rate in four and a half years, according to the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (BETI). The August BETI stood at 120.3 which is 3.2% lower than last year. This shows that we are, once again, on the verge of a declining economy.

The world economy - muddling along

04 September 2014

The world economy continues to muddle along at a pedestrian rate of growth. For equity investors this has been a ‘goldilocks’ scenario – not too hot to worry about higher interest rates, nor too cold to be concerned about profitability. For bond investors, the lack of inflationary pressures at a global level, and the likelihood of further monetary easing in Europe, has exerted downward pressure on bond yields. Meanwhile, geopolitical concerns rumble (sometimes loudly) in the background; while tragic at a human level, events so far have not had a major economic impact at a global level.

Dramatic drop in confidence in the financial sector - Is ‘South Africa Inc’ becoming economically unsustainable?

03 September 2014

The Merchantec CEO Confidence Index recorded that confidence in the financial sector dropped by a significant 17.2%, which is mainly attributed to the collapse of micro-lender, African Bank Investments Limited. However there was a marginal overall quarter-on-quarter decrease of 2.4% from 51.4 points in Q2 2014 to 50.1 points in Q3 2014.

Economy battles headwinds

26 August 2014

The 9.8% rise in July 2014 official liquidations to 213 from 194 a year earlier, is beginning to reflect the harsh realities of the current business environment and we would caution that a higher incidence is possible in the months ahead. Indeed, the latest three months to July 2014 is 22.4% higher than that experienced in the same 3-month period of 2013. The year-to-date fall in reported closures of 17.1% is likely to be eroded as the economy battles headwinds on many fronts. Our experience shows that payment defaults spiked earlier this year and have since edged lower, though stabilising at elevated levels. The fallout from the strikes is also not fully reflected in the figures and with GDP growth set to underperform spectacularly this year, more liquidations are set to be reported.

quick poll

Question

If you had to hazard a guess, when do you reckon the COFI Bill will be signed into law?

Answer

2026, as promised 2027 looks more likely Impossible to say More consultation needed

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