POLICY CHANGES
Investor wariness soars on Policy Uncertainty Index
The index by NWU School of Business and Governance reflects fear around recent changes in government policy
Recent changes in government policy are driving a sharp incline in uncertainty among investors‚ an index published by North West University (NWU) shows. On Thursday, the NWU School of Business and Governance released the Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) for the first quarter of 2017. Professor Raymond Parsons‚ who established the index, said recent political events had caused the sharpest single increase in the index since its inception in 2015. Uncertainty over the term "radical economic transformation" was "slow poison" for investor confidence‚ said another NWU professor‚ Waldo Krugell‚ who helped Parsons establish the index. The PUI for January to March 2017 increased to 51 from 38.8 for the final quarter of 2016. Parsons said the index was based on three pillars: media data‚ specifically articles mentioning policy uncertainty; a survey taken by economists from around the world; and figures from the Bureau of Economic Research at the University of Stellenbosch on the number of manu...
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