The release this week of SA’s purchasing manager indices for April will give the first indication of how badly business activity has been affected by the five-week national lockdown. Evidence from other countries suggests that the data will plunge to record lows.

In March, as consumer demand began to evaporate with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the IHS Markit purchasing managers index (PMI) for the SA economy plunged to an all-time low of 44.5 index points, from 48.4 in February...

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