Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The Western Cape economy defied the cold Cape weather in May with its second successive month of healthy performance.
In that month the Sake24 and BoE Private Clients Western Cape Barometer rose 12% to 111.8 index points, compared with the same month a year ago. In April it had a similarly strong performance.
In January, for the first time in three years, the index reached the level it had been at before the global economic crisis struck.
The region's economy has shown double-digit growth since December, after starting to recover in September last year. The recovery came after the economy had systematically weakened from the beginning of 2008, after which it contracted for several months.
The strongest growth in the underlying sectors of the economy again came from the transport and government sectors. Economic activity in both sectors lifted more than 18%.
Economists.co.za economist Mike Schüssler, who compiled the provincial barometers, said transport’s performance came from communications.
He referred to internet usage and cellphone airtime, which had risen sharply.
People are increasingly moving over to cellphones and using the internet and at the same time access is becoming cheaper, he said.
He said the Western Cape government was still spending feverishly.
He considered still-high national government expenditure one of the biggest drivers of the country's economy.
Many other sectors of the Western Cape economy have not recovered to the levels of three years ago achieved in May 2008, before the global financial crisis.
Economic activity in the agricultural sector declined for the third successive month. Year-on-year it was 5.7% down. As a result the contraction in the sector since May 2009 continued, after a slight respite between December and February.
In May manufacturing rose 3.2% to 104.8 index points. It has been growing for more than a year, although more slowly than the sharp growth experienced in July last year. But this is far from its level of 113.5 in May 2008 before the financial crisis.
- Sake24
For business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.
For more news on the Sake24/BoE Private Clients barometers, go to www.fin24.com/barometer.
In that month the Sake24 and BoE Private Clients Western Cape Barometer rose 12% to 111.8 index points, compared with the same month a year ago. In April it had a similarly strong performance.
In January, for the first time in three years, the index reached the level it had been at before the global economic crisis struck.
The region's economy has shown double-digit growth since December, after starting to recover in September last year. The recovery came after the economy had systematically weakened from the beginning of 2008, after which it contracted for several months.
The strongest growth in the underlying sectors of the economy again came from the transport and government sectors. Economic activity in both sectors lifted more than 18%.
Economists.co.za economist Mike Schüssler, who compiled the provincial barometers, said transport’s performance came from communications.
He referred to internet usage and cellphone airtime, which had risen sharply.
People are increasingly moving over to cellphones and using the internet and at the same time access is becoming cheaper, he said.
He said the Western Cape government was still spending feverishly.
He considered still-high national government expenditure one of the biggest drivers of the country's economy.
Many other sectors of the Western Cape economy have not recovered to the levels of three years ago achieved in May 2008, before the global financial crisis.
Economic activity in the agricultural sector declined for the third successive month. Year-on-year it was 5.7% down. As a result the contraction in the sector since May 2009 continued, after a slight respite between December and February.
In May manufacturing rose 3.2% to 104.8 index points. It has been growing for more than a year, although more slowly than the sharp growth experienced in July last year. But this is far from its level of 113.5 in May 2008 before the financial crisis.
- Sake24
For business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.
For more news on the Sake24/BoE Private Clients barometers, go to www.fin24.com/barometer.
