South African business confidence sinks to 21-year low
South African business sentiment plunged to the lowest level in more than two decades in the first quarter and could weaken even further as the coronavirus hits the domestic and global economy.
A quarterly guage measuring business confidence fell to 18 from 26 in the three months ended December, FirstRand’s Rand Merchant Bank unit and Stellenbosch University’s Bureau for Economic Research said in a statement Wednesday. That means more than eight out of every 10 respondents are unhappy with current business conditions. The survey was based on the responses of 1 800 business executives between February 12 and March 2.
KEY INSIGHTS
The survey was done before news that Africa’s most-industrialized economy slumped into a recession in the fourth quarter and before the impact of the coronavirus on global output and markets intensified. That means business sentiment could become even worse and weigh on economic growth.
With a budget deficit at an almost three-decade high, South Africa’s government has no room to provide fiscal support to help soften the impact of a global slowdown and rather had to announce measures last month to trim spending and the government wage bill to rein in debt.
“For a small open economy already in recession, the timing of the prospective sharp Covid-19-induced global slowdown could not have been worse,” said Ettienne le Roux, RMB’s chief economist. “Exports will be hit, tourism flows will be affected, and supply-chain disruptions will be widely felt. All the while when South Africa must continue dealing with the growth-dampening effects associated with the corrective fiscal measures necessary to help stabilize public-sector finances.”
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
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