SA slides further down WEF's global competitiveness index
The country plunges to 67 out of 140 countries surveyed in the latest WEF report
SA has continued its downward spiral in the global competitiveness rankings. The country has fallen to 67 out of 140 countries, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) “Competitiveness Report” for 2018-2019, released on Wednesday, showed. This comes as a blow after SA fell into a recession for the first time since the global financial crisis. There have been contractions in nine of the 38 quarters since 2008 and growth has struggled to breach the 2% mark. While President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced an economic stimulus plan to revive the stagnant economy, the World Bank among other institutions has warned that the effect of this will be limited. Finance minister Tito Mboweni is expected to provide more detail on the plan at the medium-term budget policy statement next week. “The index captures the long-term elements for growth in the country over five years or more,” said WEF economist Roberto Crotti. “It takes time between an announcement, implementation and the impact of a change in ...
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