{"id":790592,"date":"2024-09-11T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=790592"},"modified":"2024-09-11T13:40:44","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T11:40:44","slug":"south-africa-heading-for-a-strong-close-to-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/790592\/south-africa-heading-for-a-strong-close-to-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa heading for a strong finish in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa’s economy is set to turn the corner soon, with inflation, interest rates, and fuel prices all heading in the right direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (BETI), which measures the value of all electronic transactions cleared through BankservAfrica at seasonally adjusted real prices, showed a slight uptick in August 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased confidence, fueled by interest rate cut expectations and improving consumer inflation, could boost economic activity, especially in the last few months of 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The BETI reached an index level of 137 in August compared to 136.9 in July and remained at its highest since March 2022,\u201d said Shergeran Naidoo,\u00a0BankservAfrica\u2019s\u00a0Head of Stakeholder Engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monthly change was also very modest, with it shifting sideways by 0.1%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe BETI is essentially treading water but consolidating<\/strong> what seems to be a stronger performance in Q3<\/strong>,\u201d said Elize Kruger, an Independent Economist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the recent economic data have been slightly mixed and quite volatile, the underlying positive sentiment is seen in the economy and is starting to feature in confidence-related surveys.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the RMB\/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI), the first business sentiment survey released following the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), rose by three index points to reach 38 in Q3 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite respondents highlighting constraints, they were still generally upbeat over future business conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, for the first time since 2022, a slight net majority of respondents across different sectors expects business conditions to improve over the next quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FNB\/BER Building Confidence Index also jumped from 35 in Q2 to 40 in Q3, highlighting cautious optimism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the residential building sector continues to underperform, work for non-residential builders has shown a noticeable improvement, and activity at the start of the building pipeline was also encouraging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile still early days, improved confidence levels could translate into higher investment spending in the
economy, driving a much-needed better overall economic performance,\u201d said Kruger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a spike in July, there was a slight moderation in the amount of transactions cleared via BankservAfrica. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBankservAfrica processed 162.6 million transactions during August compared to 162.9 million in July. The standardised nominal value of transactions increased to R1,308 trillion in August 2024, higher than the R1,283 trillion in July,\u201d said Naidoo.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In addition, fuel prices have also declined significantly over the last six months due to the rand’s appreciation and lower international produce prices. After four straight monthly drops, the petrol price has hit its lowest since February 2023, following cumulative cuts of R3.36\/l. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A current over-recovery at the pumps suggests South Africa could see a R1 cut in petrol and diesel prices in October. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another massive petrol price cut on the cards for October<\/a><\/blockquote>