Consumer confidence nosedives to two-year low amid tax and trade fears
Economists mixed on implications as data was collected just days after rejected VAT hike
25 March 2025 - 19:31
SA’s consumer confidence plummeted to a two-year low in the first quarter of 2025, one of the steepest declines in recent history, as households grow increasingly concerned about the local economy.
Consumer sentiment slumped to minus 20 index points from minus 6 in the preceding three months, according to the FNB/Bureau for Economic Research (BER) consumer confidence index and was probably triggered by the threat of higher taxes and “discord” among partners in the government of national unity, FNB and the BER said in a statement. ..
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