Policy confusion continues to rise amid ANC chaos
The latest Policy Uncertainty Index shows policy uncertainty is at its highest since 2015 — and ‘business strongly dislikes a climate of uncertainty’
Uncertainty about government policy in SA rose sharply over the third quarter of 2017, giving rise to concern about the country’s economic health and capacity to achieve higher and sustained growth. The latest Policy Uncertainty Index, produced by the North West University’s School of Business and Governance, shows that policy uncertainty has grown for five successive quarters and is now at its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2015. The index measures the degree to which the negative effect of uncertainty about government policy increases the difficulty of making business decisions, notably about investment. The business school’s Prof Raymond Parsons said on Thursday that business usually coped with a degree of uncertainty, especially that which was beyond the control of policy makers, but found it very difficult to manage an environment of eroding and constantly changing government policy. "Business can even handle some negative certainty, say a nationalisation policy, bec...
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