4+ hour, 30+ min ago   (430+ words) The South African Reserve Bank’s leading business cycle indicator rose 4.2% year on year but decreased further by 0.3% month on month in May, with declines in five of the 10 available component time series outweighing advances in the other half. The largest…...

19+ hour, 5+ min ago   (900+ words) For years South Africa’s inflation debate has revolved around a familiar question: should the Reserve Bank care more about inflation or economic growth and unemployment? This is the wrong question. The more uncomfortable question is, whose welfare does inflation actually…...

1+ day, 4+ hour ago   (456+ words) When it comes to job creation, South Africa’s government has a distracted boyfriend problem. Sure, we’re committed to it. But when it comes to economic targets and policies we end up pursuing every other priority instead, from GDP growth to…...

1+ day, 4+ hour ago   (564+ words) The wealth tax debate has become a tiresome binary: tax the rich or leave capital alone. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is right to reject that framing. South Africa already taxes wealth through estate duty, donations tax, transfer duty and securities…...

1+ day, 17+ hour ago   (666+ words) By Gayatri Suroyo and Fransiska Nangoy Indonesia’s central bank governor Perry Warjiyo stepped down on Monday, in a surprise move that weighed on Indonesian assets as analysts expressed renewed concerns about Bank Indonesia’s independence. The government called for calm from…...

2+ day, 4+ hour ago   (1114+ words) Foreign capital is flooding into Wall Street courtesy of the AI revolution. Paradoxically, however, this is intensifying the spotlight on America’s chronic external deficit. How long can this massive imbalance last? Investors around the world have poured trillions into the…...

2+ day, 4+ hour ago   (608+ words) South Africa’s economic growth trajectory is expected to escape the latest round of US tariffs relatively unscathed, with businesses having weathered a far harsher 30% tariff shock last year. But the announcement last week of a sweeping 12.5% tariff shows that the…...

2+ day, 18+ hour ago   (691+ words) New York — A wobbly US stock market will take its cues in the coming week from a Federal Reserve meeting set to shed light on the path for interest rates and from a packed slate of corporate earnings led by…...

4+ day, 20+ hour ago   (947+ words) A recent World Bank report recommending that South Africa consider extending its flagship 15% corporate income tax incentive across all special economic zones (SEZs) presents a familiar temptation. It allows the state to celebrate an endorsement while avoiding a far harder,…...

5+ day, 18+ hour ago   (478+ words) The South African Reserve Bank unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7% on Thursday despite rising inflation driven by fuel prices, saying the policy stance was appropriate for now after the 25 basis point increase at its previous meeting in…...