2021 August | BER VIRTUAL BRIEFING: Tracking the recovery: shocks, politics, and reform
The recovery of the SA economy from the COVID-19-induced crash in 2020 continued to outpace expectations in the first quarter of 2021. Incoming high-frequency data suggests that some of the recovery momentum carried over to the second quarter. As a result, real GDP growth forecasts for 2021 are being revised up. The more optimistic outlook is supported by a significant rise in SA’s key export commodity prices, as well as recent indications of greater traction on much-needed structural reforms in SA. Added to this have been some positive developments on the domestic political front, most notably the fight against corruption.
Despite these growth-supportive developments, the SA economy continues to face strong headwinds. These include the risk of further waves of COVID-19 infections amid a slow, albeit accelerating, vaccine rollout. The risk of prolonged Eskom load-shedding also continues to linger. These contrasting trends pose several challenges to forecasters, business people and policy makers.
To take stock of recent developments and look forward to what it all means for the future performance of the economy, we assembled a list of expert speakers for a morning briefing.
Chair:
Mr. Craig Lemboe, Senior Economist, Bureau for Economic Research
Speakers and panelists:
Adv. Thabo Mokoena, DG, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy
Dr. Duncan Pieterse, Deputy DG, National Treasury
Ms. Natasha Marrian, Deputy Editor, Financial Mail
Dr. Ralph Mathekga, Independent Political Commentator
Mr. Hugo Pienaar, Chief Economist, Bureau for Economic Research
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