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Free State stress rises

Bloemfontein  - Sales of durable goods are on the rise again in Free State after months of belt tightening.

The Sake24 and BoE Private Clients Free State Barometer for June shows that motor vehicle sales were a strong 33.8% up on a year ago, property transfers increased 8.9% over the same period and furniture sales were 15.6% up.

Indices that performed well were agriculture (9% higher), manufacturing (7.1% up), electricity (7.3%), and government expenditure (11.1%).

But the spectre of the recession lingers. The stress index, which measures how difficult or easy it is to do business in the province, was 6.7% up.

Civil judgements for debt showed a sharp 88.9% rise. Over the same period unemployment increased by 8.4%.

The effect of the World Cup on the Free State economy is not yet fully evident in the June indices. The tournament's first match in Bloemfontein was played on June 14.

Nevertheless, hotels and restaurants show a 2.4% increase in activity compared with June 2009. Players in the hospitality industry noted that soccer tourists flew in and then departed immediately after a match, rather than staying over for a couple of days and getting to know the province.

Reservations were very quiet for the first 10 days of June, after which visitors poured in for the match between France and South Africa. But only one or two nights were involved, said Bruce McKay, managing director of the Halevy Heritage Hotel and vice-president for Fedhasa's inland region.

- Sake24.com
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