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We take a more detailed look at the different commodities being transported across South Africa be it via road or rail. The stacked chart below shows the Top 10 biggest freight types being transported across South Africa. It shows the nominal Rand value per year per freight type.
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The stacked column chart shows the various types of freight being transported around South Africa, be it by rail or road. It is the nominal Rand value per year per freight type.
What is concerning is the drop in 2015 (and the predicted drop in 2016), considering the fact that these values are nominal prices. I.e includes inflation. If inflation was stripped out the picture would look even worse. Essentially the total Rand value of goods shipped around South Africa is declining sharply and this is with inflation still in these values. It suggests that the number of goods being shipped has decreased substantially. Transport and Freight is the lifeline of any economy as it shows how actively goods are moving around a country. A decline in this type of activity signals a slowdown in economic activit |
The picture that is being painted by the graph above ties in with South Africa's economic growth over the last couple of years. With it slowly dwindling away. The concern is the first four months of 2016 was very weak, and if that growth is assumed for the rest of 2016, as we can see from the stacked chart above, South Africa's economic picture does not look like it will be improving anytime soon. The line graph below shows the yearly economic growth rates of South Africa.
As one can see the growth has been fading away slowly but surely. With average economic growth of just under 2% in 2013 to -0.2% so far in 2016.
Strong and decisive action will have to be taken by both monetary (National Treasury) and fiscal authorities (Reserve Bank), in order to kick start South Africa's economic growth. For one as we have shown in the past, our very uncoordinated monetary and fiscal policy mix should be more coordinated to assist with growth. Government spending needs to be focused on high growth areas and not in shindigs for government departments and officials. And SARB should think twice before raising interest rates due to rising inflation that is not caused by excess demand in the economy,