Manuel: SA has much to be proud of

Sneeky

Sneeky

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and he is 100% right!

South Africa is on a strong financial footing, despite "huge economic and social challenges", Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told an International Monetary Conference (IMC) meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday.

"The economy is performing well, but we still have millions living in poverty and many more unable to get jobs," Manuel said.

"We cannot be satisfied with our performance until we have made a bigger dent in unemployment and poverty.

"We are not yet there, but we still have much to be proud of [with] what we have achieved in such a short space of time."
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http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=310464&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/
 
I wonder? I think that the honeymoon is over and reality is arriving. The only way that an economy can grow sustainable is through productivity and this is a concept that has not been adopted as a lifestyle in SA (for that matter in Africa) If you don't have productivity, then inflation and interest rates start to rise. Exactly what we having now.
And any growing economy needs electricity. That we are going to get when and where? And any growing economy need a stable and skilled workforce. Do I need to ask that question as well?

I'm not being negative but I'm not a mushroom either!
 
You have rising inflation when supply cannot be expanded to meet demand. We have run out of production capacity, but businesses are borrowing money to expand. A big chunk of the money being borrowed which was giving Mboweni nightmares was going to businesses. Of course if Mboweni has his head up his ass he'll keep increasing interest rates and throttle South Africa's growth at time when businesses need capital to expand as fast as possible.

So they underestimated electricity demand. So did the UK and parts of the US.
 
noxibox said:
You have rising inflation when supply cannot be expanded to meet demand. We have run out of production capacity, but businesses are borrowing money to expand. A big chunk of the money being borrowed which was giving Mboweni nightmares was going to businesses. Of course if Mboweni has his head up his ass he'll keep increasing interest rates and throttle South Africa's growth at time when businesses need capital to expand as fast as possible.

So they underestimated electricity demand. So did the UK and parts of the US.
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No I disagree about your interpretation of inflation. Inflation is when the production costs continues to increase due to poor productivity or rather inefficient production processes but rising wages. Price based on supply and demand do not consistently grow, and most commodities are not in short supply in SA, yet show me something produced in SA that has seen a real reduction in price over time (6-12 months).

Yes and they suffered the consequences in terms of their economy, especially the UK. But I don't think that you can quite compare the situation in SA (third world) with the UK or the US (first world).
 
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