Retailer confidence jumps to six-year high
Expenditure rebounds sharply and recovery is also helped by record low interest rates
The confidence levels of retailers in SA jumped to a six-year high in the second quarter as expenditure rebounded sharply in comparison to the same period last year, when the country went into its first hard lockdown.
The recovery in retail confidence was also helped by record low interest rates, which encouraged higher income consumers in particular to boost spending on durable goods and motor vehicles. Nevertheless, Bureau for Economic Research (BER) economist Tshepo Moloi cautioned that the recovery could be undone should the third wave of Covid-19 infections result in harsher lockdown restrictions to curb the number of new cases, which have jumped from below 800 a day in early April to more than 13,000 in the past week. ..
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