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Brief note intended as a more regular interface with our clients.
The Impumelelo Economic Growth Lab is a unit at the BER, focussing on generating policy-relevant work and capacity building to achieve economic success in South Africa. Our work is open to all registered users of our website.
South Africa has postponed critical health financing reforms for almost 20 years as it has waited for National Health Insurance (NHI) to be implemented. But it now risks harming the main health risk-pooling mechanisms (medical schemes) that are already in place. With the future of NHI deeply uncertain, time is running out, and the cracks in our existing system are showing without a workable alternative having been put in place. It is time to revisit old proposals and ideas, like that of social health insurance.
Read MoreThe Indian economy is slowly but surely becoming too big to ignore. While still small relative to the economic superpowers of the US and China, it is growing rapidly. Given its growing importance in the global economy, this note explores the Indian economy in more detail. The first half of this research note unpacks the structure of the Indian economy and describes how it has fared over recent years and, more importantly, what is expected to happen in the coming years. In the second half, we look at the relationship between South Africa and India, focusing mainly on trade, investment, and tourism linkages.
Read MoreThe year 1994 marked the start of a new political dispensation in South Africa. The initial policy framework of the Government of National Unity (GNU), was set out in a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) White Paper. This research note draws on South Africa’s national accounts as a record of the trend in economic performance, against the background of these plans. It provides a summary of what the national accounts are and how they evolved. Aggregate economic performance is presented in the three broad categories in which the national accounts are compiled: production, income and expenditure. Where possible, we look back to 1950 to provide a historical perspective on economic transitions. Lastly, a forward-looking analysis estimates how economic outcomes could evolve differently if government return to the initial investment goals in the RDP policy.
Read MorePresident Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into an Act on 15 May 2024. At the time of writing, it is still unclear how the recently established Government of National Unity (GNU) will approach NHI. The BER asked Dr Anja Smith for her views on the associated funding, infrastructure, capacity, and administration requirements that must be considered before implementation.
Read MoreThe BER asked one of South Africa’s top academic monetary economists, Prof Stan du Plessis, for his views on National Treasury’s proposed reforms to the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA).
Read MoreSouth Africa’s freight rail network is a crucial part of the country’s economic infrastructure but is constrained by a lack of maintenance and investment, poor coordination between stakeholders, inadequate planning, and security concerns, to name a few. It creates a logistical bottleneck that affects confidence, disrupts supply chains, and increases the cost of doing business. In this Research Note, we unpack some of these issues as Transnet tries to correct its course.
Read MoreThis Research Note is the second instalment of a two-part series examining South Africa’s energy crisis. In Part Two, we focus on how investment associated with the demand for renewable energy could permeate the economy.
Read MoreThis is the first installment of a two-part series that looks at South Africa’s energy crisis. In Part One, we focus on load-shedding and its cost to GDP.
The BER BCI (Building Cost Index) is widely used in the building sector as well as the finance and insurance sector. However, the index has come under some scrutiny over the last few years due to, among other things, the appropriateness of the items included in the index. This paper details a process which started at the end of 2020 to evaluate and, if possible, implement changes to the list of items (i.e. indicator items) included in the BER BCI.
Read MoreGlobal inflation accelerated through the second half of 2021, and by 2022, inflation in many advanced economies spiked to multi-decade highs and central banks scrambled to bring down inflation. South Africa was no exception to this trend and saw inflation accelerate to multi-year highs through 2022. However, unlike the historic experience, South Africa’s inflation remained below some of the advanced economies. This note unpacks some of the reasons behind the recent surge in global inflation and highlights why South Africa diverged from the historical trend.
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