LUMKILE MONDI: Forget populist shaming and cut interest rates
The legacy of exclusion in land, labour, capital and product markets hampers growth
Listening to the SA Reserve Bank speech presented by governor Lesetja Kganyago at the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals conference recently, on the tears that accompany populist economic policies, I was reminded of the dangers of shaming or labelling that blind SA’s macroeconomic policy. It is time for the Bank to stimulate aggregate demand by cutting interest rates by 100 basis points. Even the World Bank’s systematic country diagnosis of SA acknowledges that historical disadvantages remain a determinant of income, wealth and opportunity. As such, the economic transition from a system of exclusion under segregation and apartheid remains incomplete. The legacy of exclusion in land, labour, capital and product markets hampers growth. At the same time, high inequality and the legacy of exclusion fuel contestation over resources, increasing policy uncertainty and deterring investment while also undermining the financial stability of state-owned enterprises an...
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