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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tapping into gold and foreign reserve to pay debt servicing costs is risky for South Africa

Economists say the government can expect to incur inflationary and exchange rate costs from the move

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photo: Dwayne Senior/Getty Images

Move to tap forex reserve is ‘sensible’

Commentators are cautiously positive about the treasury’s decision to use the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account

Markets are anticipating that the conflict will be contained. A wider Middle East war would hit an already fragile and fragmented economy.

Global economy braces for Israel-Hamas spillover

A wider Middle East war would hit an already fragile and fragmented economy.

The decision to form a unity government has been broadly welcomed by economists.

Emerging markets unwinding? Not just yet

Chile and Brazil are leading the pack with their recent interest rate cuts but South Africa is on its own timeline

Developing countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change are angry about a new text released at COP29 on Friday, which says developed countries must pay $250 billion a year until 2035 for climate action.(Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

SA’s R210 billion grid dilemma hits pause on load-shedding fix

Renewable energy could close the gap between demand and supply, ending load-shedding. But out-of-pocket Eskom must find money to upgrade its transmission infrastructure first

(Getty Images)

GDP contracts as SA’s sluggish economy embarks on a go-slow

Global dynamics and South Africa’s energy crisis will weigh on domestic growth for years to come. But green investment could, eventually, resuscitate the economy

People entering the abandoned Presidential Secretariat at Galle Face in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 10, 2022.(Photo by M.A.Pushpa Kumara/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

‘Tunisia Days’ ahead as inflation exerts political pressure

With high prices continuing to bear down on consumers the world over, leaders who fail to bring inflation to heel could face a reckoning

The rand has managed to withstand even the strongest global headwinds, but it is unlikely it will continue to hold steady in the wake of the Fed’s aggression.  (Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rand offers cold comfort amid global inflation storm

The rand has managed to withstand even the strongest global headwinds, but it is unlikely it will continue to hold steady in the wake of the Fed’s aggression

More recently, the government chose to relinquish its majority stakeholding in SAA, after it became the first parastatal to go into business rescue. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Public procurement law is not the problem – people are

The Zondo report delves into South Africa’s procurement web, as it tries to figure out why state-owned entities were able to be captured

Covid-19 cast the economy adrift, but a less punishing new phase of the pandemic could set it back on track. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

2022: A return to normality or more economic uncertainty?

Covid-19 cast the economy adrift, but a less punishing new phase of the pandemic could set it back on track

Protests: Turkey has seen opposition to the country’s declaration of   ‘an economic war of independence’ by refusing to rein in inflation using higher interest rates and other measures.  (Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty)

Lessons from Turkey to SA: Economic independence is a battle

Without tighter capital controls, regulating the flow of money in and out of their economies, Turkey and South Africa are vulnerable to the whims of the financial markets

Economists widely expect the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee to once again hold the interest rate at 8.25% when it concludes its meeting on Thursday.

‘A cruel slap’: Reserve Bank weighs inflation risks as the economy struggles

Critics have said the repo rate hike will jeopardise already sluggish economic growth, but others say the gradual increase will have little effect

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photo: Madelene Cronje

Godongwana ‘will be just fine’

The new finance minister has a difficult task, but analysts say his political capital will help him hold a hard line on state spending

Struggles: Many South Africans sought relief from the Unemployment Insurance Fund at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Jobs are now increasing but not fast enough. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Economy’s signs of life mean little for the poor

GDP growth may be encouraging but it doesn’t mean much for SA’s millions of unemployed

Walking the tightrope: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni makes tough budgetary decisions. (Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

State’s wage freeze sparks apoplexy

Public sector unions have cried foul over the government’s plan to freeze wages for three years and have vowed to fight back.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni. (David Harrison/M&G)

No need to worry about the mid-term budget being postponed, say economists

Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni has asked for a week’s delay in presenting the medium term budget policy statement.

Government, labour, business and community have come up with a combined economic recovery plan amidst three others to help kickstart the economy.  (Jacques Stander/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Government misses the mark on the recovery plan

Government, labour, business and community have come up with a combined economic recovery plan amidst three others to help kickstart the economy. Some are new, while others are…