5 things in business you need to know today
·2 Jun 2016
Here’s what is happening in the markets:
- Finance minister Pravin Gordhan is confident that South Africa will avoid a ratings downgrade ahead of the announcement from Standard & Poor’s on Friday. Gordhan said that government has done enough to avoid the June hurdle, but in the next six months, would have to do a lot more.
- The Auditor General has found that South African municipalities have spent R3.4 billion on consultants in the past financial year. The AG said that the use of consultants remains a concern as many municipalities do not establish measures to monitor the performance of consultants, and keep no record of skills transfer.
- South Africa’s rand firmed on Wednesday as the dollar pulled back from a recent rally, but traders said the local unit was likely to tread a narrow range as investors await Friday’s credit rating review from Standard & Poor’s. On Thursday the rand was trading at R15.58 to the dollar, R22.48 to the pound and R17.45 to the euro.
- In global news, Asian stocks eased on Thursday after surveys showed global manufacturing activity and demand remain weak, while a jump in the yen sent Japan’s Nikkei reeling more than 2 percent.
- Oil prices were steady on Thursday on mixed market signals ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna, which analysts said was not expected to result in restrictions on crude output. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $49.77 per barrel, up 5 cents from their last settlement, while US crude was down 9 cents at $48.92 a barrel.
In other news: ANCYL president Collen Maine has told the “old” people in the ANC to step aside, saying the next leader of the party should be a young person. He said the youth drive revolution, and that ANC members over 70 should move aside.
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