December business confidence level ‘of grave concern’, says Sacci
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) has expressed “grave concern” over December’s Business Confidence Index (BCI), which shed 2.5 index points to decline from 90.8 in November to 88.3.
This was 3.6 points below that of December 2013 and the lowest level since July 2014, when the BCI measured 87.9.
“Given [that] the highest BCI level recorded was 122.1 in December 2006, the present level remains a matter of grave concern,” the chamber said in a statement on Thursday.
The average BCI for 2014 was 90 compared with 91.4 in 2013.
The previous lowest yearly average was 87.6, which was recorded in 1999, while the highest BCI yearly average was 118.8 for 2006.
Sacci noted, however, that, while the subdued business confidence was “broad-based”, the rand exchange rate made a marked negative impact.
“The financial situation [in December last year] was weaker than that of December 2013. Four of the seven physical activity subindices of the BCI recorded changes that were positive in December compared with three in November – confirming subdued economic activity,” it noted.
Looking ahead, Sacci believed the immediate economic outlook for South Africa would be largely influenced by lower international crude oil price and electricity power shortages.
It expressed further concern that electricity shortages would cause the economy to stagnate at low levels of activity.
“An apathetic approach to economic challenges has led to the constrained environment South Africa finds itself in. [The] BCI reflects a perspective on the situation,” it concluded.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation