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May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 27 2012 11:49
The country's 200 000-odd Tupperware agents are angry about the counterfeit products being sold as the real McCoy.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
Johannesburg - The recent avalanche of weak economic indicators bolsters the case for the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to maintain an aggressive monetary policy easing stance and could persuade the Monetary Policy Committee to cut rates ahead of its scheduled meeting in April, says Moody's Economy.com in a research note on Friday.
"Dour production data dominated the economic news from South Africa this week, led by slumping domestic and foreign demand. Elevated interest rates have cooled domestic spending while most of South Africa's key export markets are in recession," they note.
The economists say the recession in the manufacturing sector is expected to continue through most of 2009.
"Given manufacturing accounts for around 15% of the economy and employment, this is a worry."
"With the rest of the economy in turmoil, prospects of a near-term recovery in the domestic housing market are bleak," they add.
Moody's Economy.com says that Africa's largest economy has succumbed to the global downturn.
"In the final quarter of 2008, GDP contracted for the first time in a decade, and leading indicators suggest another contraction in the first quarter," they conclude.
- I-Net Bridge