Economy watch with Claire Bisseker
Trying times for South African economy
Last year was a terrible one for the SA economy. GDP data to be released on March 7 will reveal just how bad. The Reuters consensus is that growth will come in at just 0.4% — the economy’s worst performance since the 2009 recession — while employment growth and per capita GDP growth are expected to be negative for the year as a whole. Last year, cyclical shocks, the drought and SA’s self-destructive politics — as typified by the Hawks’ relentless pursuit of finance minister Pravin Gordhan — combined to bring growth to a standstill.
Amplifying the downswing was a further slowdown in capital expenditure. After four consecutive quarters of contraction, gross fixed capital formation remains deep in recession and unemployment at record highs. KPMG economist Christie Viljoen warns that the weak performance of the mining and manufacturing sectors during the final quarter of 2016 suggests that SA likely posted GDP growth of little better than 0.5% y/y in the fourth quarter. This woul...
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