{"id":13848,"date":"2012-08-24T03:08:44","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T01:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/08\/update-1-s-africa-gdp-to-slow-unemployment-unsustainable-imf\/"},"modified":"2012-08-24T03:08:44","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T01:08:44","slug":"update-1-s-africa-gdp-to-slow-unemployment-unsustainable-imf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/update-1-s-africa-gdp-to-slow-unemployment-unsustainable-imf\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE 1-S.Africa GDP to slow, unemployment unsustainable-IMF"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

(Adds details, quotes, background)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

JOHANNESBURG<\/span> Aug 23 (Reuters) – South Africa’s economic
\ngrowth is likely to moderate in 2012 due to weak external
\nconditions and global uncertainty, the International Monetary
\nFund said on Thursday, adding monetary policy should remain
\naccommodative given limited fiscal space.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The country’s “stubbornly high” unemployment rate could
\nbecome politically and socially unsustainable if not addressed,
\nthe fund said in a statement at the conclusion of annual
\nconsultations with the government.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Growth in Africa’s biggest economy will likely reach just
\n2.6 percent in 2012, the IMF said, cutting its forecasts
\nslightly from the 2.7 percent seen in May.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Both South Africa’s Reserve Bank and the Treasury see
\nexpansion of 2.7 percent this year, but Finance Minister Pravin
\nGordhan has warned he will revise this down in his October
\nbudget review.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The level of government debt, coupled with the budget
\ndeficit, suggested “fiscal space to cope with future shocks has
\ndeclined considerably”, the IMF said.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“Monetary policy should remain accommodative, especially
\ngiven the limited fiscal space,” it said.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Reserve Bank cut its main lending rate to 5.0 percent
\nlast month after keeping it on hold for nearly 20 months, citing
\na dim growth outlook, while inflation was seen sustainably
\nwithin a 3-6 percent target band.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The country’s output gap, the difference between actual and
\npotential gross domestic product, would likely remain negative
\nthrough 2014 and help moderate inflation, allowing the central
\nbank greater room to respond, the IMF said.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

It warned that the country would not be able to reduce
\nunemployment on a sustained basis without labour market reforms.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The ruling African National Congress has sent to parliament
\nproposed measures making it more difficult for employers to hire
\nseasonal labour. Critics say this will be another obstacle to
\nreducing unemployment of around 25 percent.<\/p>\n

(Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Ed Stoddard)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Adds details, quotes, background) JOHANNESBURG Aug 23 (Reuters) – South Africa’s economic growth is likely to moderate in 2012 due to weak external conditions and global uncertainty, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, adding monetary policy should remain accommodative given limited fiscal space. The country’s “stubbornly high” unemployment rate could become politically and socially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-13848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}