analysis

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni says South Africa is on the brink of a sovereign debt crisis (Gallo Images, Brenton Geach) South Africa's debt levels are breaking historical records.Director-General Dondo Mogajane said that debt levels risked breaching the 100% mark in 2023/24 if no changes were made.A zero-based budget will help government contain spending, but it…

President Cyril Ramphosa has announced that SA is looking at 276 new infrastructure projects to revive the economy. Photo: GCIS SA unveiled its inaugural Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium with projects running to trillions of randsOther countries are also looking at infrastructure to lift their economies from the Covid-19 slump and therefore competition is rifeThe question…

Two workers in an underground mine. Policymakers must balance managing the virus with the economic cost of lockdownsThe authors have developed a model to assess short-term economic shocksTheir findings show that the economic impact has been severeLow-income workers have been hit hardest, and the biggest shocks were to mining, service and non-essential industries.In trying to…

The Ninety One SA Recovery Fund in association with Ethos Private Equity aims to raise R10bn. Cabinet has given the nod for a process to establish a National Petroleum CompanyThis is part of government's efforts to repurpose state-owned enterprises to support economic growthSome economists aren't sure where government will find the money to support this…

The state has based its ban on studies that are inconclusive.The state also says the ban has been effective at reducing smoking.But the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association says smoking is as essential to smokers as food, and Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has overstepped her powers.An analyst says the state avoided the illicit trade argument because…