bureau for economic researchlatest news & developments
South Africa’s economy expanded by a marginal 0.1% in the first quarter of 2025

South Africa’s economy shrinks by 0.3% in the third quarter

Economists incorrectly predicted a slight uptick in GDP

  • Eyaaz
2 min read
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tapping into gold and foreign reserve to pay debt servicing costs is risky for South Africa

Economists say the government can expect to incur inflationary and exchange rate costs from the move

5 min read
Working together, governments, the private sector and regional bodies can solve the infrastructure problems hobbing the growth of the mining sector in Africa. Photo by Emmanuel Croset/AFP

30 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY: SA’s economy neither Gear nor there

Amid directionless policy after 30 years of democracy, the country’s prospects continue to be driven by the whims of miners and their financiers

  • Des Erasmus
7 min read
Blinkered: The big screen industry is still recovering from Covid. Ster-Kinekor went into business rescue in January 2021 until November 2022. Photo: Sourced

Ster-Kinekor suffers blockbuster blues

But the cinema group’s chief executive insists that the show will go on as load-shedding abates

  • Umamah Bakharia
6 min read
Economists expect the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee to keep borrowing costs unchanged

SARB will hold off on rate cuts until July, experts predict

Today’s monetary policy committee meeting comes in the wake of a surprise acceleration in South Africa’s annual inflation rate

  • Eyaaz
2 min read
A general view shows trails of lights from passing vehicles in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, which is submerged in darkness due to load-shedding

Signs point to SA having avoided a technical recession

According to economists, the country’s fourth-quarter GDP numbers will have been buoyed by a winding down of power outages

  • Des Erasmus
2 min read
Investor confidence is low as citizens and domestic private companies stash their cash abroad to protect it from the volatility of the weakened rand. (Getty)

Rand reels amid rates reckoning, braces for election turmoil

The local currency could be in for more volatility as political push-and-pull raises uncertainty

  • Eyaaz
6 min read
The South African Reserve Bank is likely to hold interest rates unchanged

Inflation rises towards Reserve Bank’s upper limit, pointing to rate hikes down the line

Despite inflation coming within a hair’s breadth of 6%, there is still reason to believe that the central bank will hold interest rates this week

  • Eyaaz
2 min read
South Africa’s prime lending rate stands at 11.75%. Photo: Dean Hutton/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Reserve Bank expected to hold off on hikes

However, inflation will probably remain elevated into next year

  • Eyaaz
2 min read