Despite the great optimism surrounding Ramaphosa’s election as ANC president, there has been no growth in the domestic economy.
Rather, the decline can be notice after the latest figures where released. Gross Domestic Production weakened by a shocking 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019.
This is the biggest fall since the world wide financial crisis in 2009. The manufacturing sector fell by almost 9% but all sectors showed a downward growth. The Rand fell by 1.4% after the figures were announced, while banks dropped an average of 3.2% on the JSE.
All that has increased is the government’s 1.3% increase in expenses. Economists believe the figures could force the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates at their next meeting in June 2019.
The major reason for the “depression” in the economy is power outages and higher income taxes. A further worrying figure is the 26.4% drop in exports.
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