Global tide of money is receding, and SA is swimming naked
The main reason for the sell-off in South African assets lies beyond the country’s borders, write Mehul Daya and Neels Heyneke
There is a perception that the sell-off in the rand (and other SA financial assets) is because "Ramaphoria" has turned into "Ramaphobia", leading to capital outflows from our shores amid subdued economic growth, structural impediments such as the country’s twin deficits and policy uncertainty around key issues such as land reform and the mining charter, unfortunately this is not the complete story. While these factors are certainly worrying, it is important to note that the current turmoil in emerging markets has been across the board, from the strongest emerging-market economies in Asia (China, India, South Korea) to the weakest emerging-market economies like Turkey, Brazil and South Africa. This is important to note as we believe there is a far bigger force materialising other than idiosyncratic, country-specific factors. The bigger force we are referring to is the tide of money, which has been shaping the outlook for emerging markets through capital inflows and outflows for many ...
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