5 important things you need to know in South Africa today
·8 Jul 2016
Here is what’s happening in South Africa and the markets:
- EFF leader Julius Malema has vowed that president Jacob Zuma will go to jail, and that his party will take Nkandla back. He was speaking at a rally ahead of the 2016 elections. Malema said that his words should not be doubted – he had previously promised that Zuma would pay back the money for Nkandla, and that the Guptas would leave, both of which happened.
- As the IMF cuts South Africa’s growth outlook to only 0.1%, Treasury says that it is more optimistic about the country’s economy. The body has kept its growth forecast at 0.9% for 2016, expecting growth and employment to be supported by several structural reforms and targeted government interventions. SARB, meanwhile, said the country’s GDP contraction of 1.2% in Q1 was a low point, with an upward trend expected.
- South Africa’s rand relinquished earlier gains against the dollar on Thursday after the International Monetary Fund cut the 2016 domestic growth forecast to barely above zero percent. Stocks rose, however, led by financial services. On Friday the rand was trading at R14.70 to the dollar, R19.03 to the pound and R16.29 to the euro.
- In global news: Asian stocks looked set to post their biggest weekly loss in three weeks on Friday and government bond yields plunged to fresh record lows as investors awaited U.S. jobs data to get a clearer picture of the health of the world’s biggest economy.
- Oil prices rebounded on Friday, bouncing off two-month lows hit in the previous session when prices fell 5 percent on news that the U.S. weekly crude draw missed some forecasts. Brent crude futures were trading at $46.92 per barrel on Friday, up 52 cents from their last settlement. U.S. crude was up 43 cents, or 0.95 percent, at $45.57 a barrel.
In other news: Civil group, Outa says that it will provide evidence of corruption at South African Airways. It said it would publish evidence of deceit and manipulation related to the contract in which SAA appointed a largely unknown financier, which scored R256 million from the state-owned company.
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