adminA sustained decline in retail sales volumes, lower share prices on the JSE and less credit going to the private sector continued to suppress business confidence in South Africa in September. And even though almost all sectors of the economy have opened up after the strict lockdown, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said business confidence in the country appears to “find it difficult to regain its rhythm”.
After confidence levels rebounded in June and July from the deterioration recorded in the first two months of the lockdown, SACCI said its business confidence index declined marginally again in September. August had seen the index — which gauges sentiment and forward-looking expectations of firms, and by implication affects their plans to invest or hold-off planned expenditure in a country — improved to 85,8. That amounted to an improvement of three index points from July. But the index regressed by 0,1 index point in September and was still 6,7 index points below its September 2019 level.
“This shows that it’s not just about unlocking the economy by easing the lockdown. There were some setbacks in the economy. So, the economy will take some time to recover. There will have to be more done than just unlocking the economy,” said SACCI’s economist, Richard Downing. — news24.com.
Online Reporter