Ramaphosa’s to-do list: seven economic policy areas that will shift the dial
The president will have to roll up his sleeves to yank SA out of a quagmire of inequality, stagnation and joblessness
President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to have a lot going for him. His early new-broom sweeps have been incisive and the market indicators are responding well. A plethora of good news has come his way in the weeks since he was sworn in. The rand has remained strong, and with it the steadying of the inflation rate — at 4% the lowest it’s been in three years. This in turn allowed the South African Reserve Bank to cut interest rates by 25 basis points. Few things benefit a feel-good effect better than downward movement in interest rates. And business confidence is looking up. This could mean companies will use their high cash balances to invest. Most critically, global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service maintained SA’s investment-grade rating and upgraded the outlook of the country’s sovereign debt to stable. And while one of the other top three rating agencies, S&P Global, didn’t upgrade its sub-investment grading, it doubled its growth forecast for 2018 from 1% to 2%. Also ausp...
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