Coronavirus and the economy: We didn’t prepare for tough times - The Mail & Guardian

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South Africa was well-placed for the 2008 crisis. But R3.18-trillion debt and low growth hamper its ability to limit the economic effects of Covid-19.

‘When times are good prepare for war. When the economy is booming, prepare for a recession,” Isaah Mhlanga, chief economist at Alexander Forbes, said this week. He was reiterating sentiments he had tweeted about South Africa’s gloomy economic outlook in a time when the coronavirus disease is forecast to slow down global economic growth.

Monday’s global stock market decline was at a rate last seen during the financial crisis of 2008. This kind of shock was not on the cards when Finance Minister Tito Mboweni set out his annual budget in February. At that point, China — the second largest economy in the world — was starting to roll out quarantine measures that would virtually halt production in parts of that country.

Added to this is the effect of Covid-19: the JSE’s all-share index fell by 5.5% on Monday and tourism will probably be affected because people aren’t travelling as much. Last week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said the spread of Covid-19 presents the global economy with its greatest danger since the 2008 financial crisis. The organisation called on governments to act immediately to limit the spread of the disease to protect people and businesses from its effects and shore up demand in the economy. It said global gross domestic product growth could contract this year to 1.5%, from the 2.9% rate it forecast before Covid-19 took hold.

In response to these attempts, George Glynos, the co-founder and head of research at financial market and analysis firm ETM Analytics, said: “At a very basic level, reducing interest rates does not stop the spread of the virus. So if the spread of the virus escalates significantly further, the reduction in interest rates will offer some assistance to those who are indebted but it does not prevent the disruption.

 

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SA and the myanc government prepares for nothing. They steal and burn. So we are and always will be totally fckd unless the voters wake up which i doubt. Lekker.

The impact of corrupt & predatory political elite will be felt in SA for decades MYANC CyrilRamaphosa GovernmentZA tito_mboweni JacksonMthembu_ MbalulaFikile RonaldLamola zsaul1 GwedeMantashe1 COVIDー19

LoL! You get what you vote for

Get back the stolen money. That’s R1 Tn

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