The Executive service provides busy company executives with comprehensive short-term analysis and forecasts of the South African economy. Key areas such as economic growth, interest rates, inflation and exchange rates are covered. These variables have a crucial impact on a company’s performance and profitability. The BER relies on its comprehensive macro-econometric model, its contact with business executives and policy makers, and its dedicated research, particularly its quarterly business surveys, in constructing the forecast. In addition, Executive service clients will receive the BER’s quarterly business and consumer surveys as well as BER Comments. Clients will have access to several monthly- and quarterly-updated data publications.

BER Executive clients have access to the following:

• A personal in-house presentation, focusing on the impact to the company of the expected macro-economic environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the results of BER business surveys conducted quarterly and which provide unique and advance warning on business cycle and market developments. Additional presentations can be arranged at reduced rates.
• An open-line facility to discuss economic events and issues.
• Executive clients are also welcome to contact the BER for additional / client specific research requirements.
• BER research and forecast reports, including:
  • Economic Prospects, a quarterly report, containing a detailed quarter-by-quarter forecast of the SA economy for the coming 18-24 months, which is supplemented by a monthly economic fact sheet Update )
  • Quarterly business surveys (Manufacturing Survey , EY Retail Survey , Building and Construction survey , EY Financial Services Survey )
  • Trends, a comprehensive economic statistics handbook.
  • BER Comment, a brief note intended as a more regular interface with our clients, the emphasis being to provide our interpretations of important economic events (including quarterly GDP growth statistics and monetary policy decisions). This includes the quarterly BER Survey comment which summarises the results of the business surveys and provides a first indication of developments in the real economy during that quarter.
• For more information, contact us.

A cornerstone of the BER's work over the years has been its regular business surveys. The information from the surveys (which the BER processes into workable time series data and publishes in quarterly reports, namely the Retail Survey , Manufacturing Survey and Building and Construction Survey reports ) has a proven track record as exceptionally reliable given the correspondence with the available official statistics as published by Statistics South Africa and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). The surveys provide unique information, such as overall business confidence, as well as respondents’ rating of current business conditions and expectations for the next quarter. In addition to the quarterly business survey, the monthly manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index™ (PMI™) tracks conditions in the South African factory sector on a month-to-month basis.

Apart from the business surveys mentioned above, the BER conducts several other surveys in various sectors of the economy in order to better gauge current economic conditions. The consumer survey measures consumer confidence and provides additional information about the expected performance of the economy, the expected financial position of households and the rating of the appropriateness of the present time to buy durable goods. The quarterly Financial Sector Survey reveals current and expected changes in income / (net) inflows, costs / outflows and profitability of retail banks, investment banks, asset managers and life insurers, as well as confidence levels of these four segments of the financial services sector. Industry specific issues, such as banks’ credit standards and the demand for various products of asset managers, are also covered. The quarterly Inflation Expectation Survey , conducted by the BER and commissioned by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), assesses inflation expectations of financial analysts, business people, trade union officials and households. Finally, the BER publishes the Building Cost Index – a measure of the percentage change in average building costs in South Africa.

Macroeconomic forecasting is one of the BER's core competencies. The 18-24 month ahead quarterly forecast is generated during January, April, July and October of each year and published in the Economic Prospects publication.

The 6-year ahead annual forecast is updated in April and October and is published in Economic Outlook. While not formally modelled, the 6-year ahead forecast is updated in January and July in conjunction with the production of the new quarterly forecast. On occasion, the BER undertakes a long-term (roughly 15-year) baseline and scenario forecast round. These results are then published in Economic Outlook.

The BER publishes several monthly data publications, ranging from a concise graphical overview of general economic conditions in Snapshot and a fact sheet of key economic data and financial indicators in Update , to the more comprehensive economic statistics handbook named Trends and the summary of key monthly, quarterly and annual South African and international economic data in numBERs .

The BER Weekly is a short report that reviews important global and domestic financial market and economic data developments of the previous week. BER Comments are brief notes on the BER’s interpretation of economic events, including the South African Reserve Bank interest rate decision and other key data releases, (such as GDP figures). Included is a comment highlighting the key results and broader macroeconomic implications of the BER’s Business Surveys.

The BER conducts ad hoc macroeconomic presentations on request from non-clients. The BER economist will endeavour to provide a presentation appropriate to the client’s sector or industry, but the emphasis remains on the broader Macroeconomic Outlook. For more information, please contact us.

The BER conducts ad hoc research on request from both clients and non-clients. The BER relies on in-house expertise, as well as its capacity to contract research out in the event of this being necessary, to provide the highest quality research output possible. Should you wish to enquire about the BER's ad hoc research, please contact us.

More information and a list of previous commissioned research.

The BER hosts conference events in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The conferences provide delegates with the BER’s latest economic forecasts as well as in-depth analyses of economic and political developments. The conferences are renowned for the quality of the speakers. Importantly, delegates can use these events as opportunities to listen to and engage with influential policy makers, business leaders, decision makers and other attendees.

More details on upcoming and previous events.