The latest economic figures and the effect of the coronavirus on the global economy are bad news for South Africa’s already tepid domestic growth outlook.
Earlier this week, @RobinGwhiz tweeted that people should start to wash their hands “like you convinced your husband to kill the true king of Scotland”.— Robin Gee is very tired The tongue-in-cheek reference to Shakespeare’s Macbeth provided some much-needed comic relief in the face of increasing fears of the spread of the coronavirus and subsequent hygiene campaigns.
But beyond health interventions, the government also needs to prepare for the potential effects of global trade being disrupted. The South African economy grew by just 0.2% in 2019, according to Statistics South Africa . This is the lowest level since 2009, when the economy contracted by 1.5%. Stats SA data shows that seven of the 10 industrial sectors contracted in the fourth quarter, with the transport and trade sectors being the main drags on overall activity.
Citadel chief economist Maarten Ackerman said although the Stats SA data shows that the country is in a technical recession, this is merely a statistical measure. Ackerman explained that if the coronavirus is not contained and the global economy tips into a recession, South Africa will be unlikely to achieve the goals of the recent budget as set out by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni last week.
“It’s been load-shedding and the impact that it has had on production, both at the manufacturing level, as well as with trade.”
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