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Friday, September 18, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus expects to deliver about 25 000 new passenger and freight aircraft, valued at about 3,1-trillion-dollars to airlines in the next 20 years, its latest Global Market Forecast showed this week.

The manufacturer says that emerging economies, evolving airline networks, the expansion of low-cost carriers and the increasing number of megacities, as well as traffic growth and the replacement of older, less efficient aircraft with more eco-efficient airliners would drive demand for new aircraft.

Compared with timescales for aircraft investment and fleet turnover, economic downcycles were relatively short and a strong underlying demand for air travel would continue to drive growth.

However, ,Airbus says that a 2% decline in revenue passenger kilometers is expected for 2009.

South Africa's central bank is likely to leave interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week. This is as concerns about the ailing economy abate and inflation hangs above the top end of the bank's target band.

The Reserve Bank has slashed rates by 500 basis points since December last year, mainly to ease pressure on the economy. The economy fell into its first recession since 1992 at the start of this year as a sharp fall in global and local demand hit the key manufacturing and mining sectors.

The cuts have reversed 5% of increases in the two years to June 2008 aimed at taming consumer inflation, which has clung above the top end of the bank's 3 to 6% target band since early 2007.

Also making headlines:
Busa wants more private sector involvement in State-owned Enterprises.
Inflation is likely seen slowing further in August.
President Jacob Zuma distances himself from the ANC's show of support for suspended Transnet executive Siyabonga Gama's bid to get the top job at the parastatal.
And, Naacam says government must do more to aid local manufacturing.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.