Reading the GDP tea leaves

After two consecutive quarters of positive growth, real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0,7% in the second quarter… The devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal and load shedding contributed to the decline, and right on cue, stage 2 load-shedding is back…which is thankfully not as damaging economically as stage 4 and above but it shows that the risk remain for an already fragile national economy that had just recovered to pre-pandemic levels. In real terms, South Africa's economy is still slightly smaller than it was in 2019. To talk about this Michael Avery is joined by Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya, chief economist at FNB; Kevin Lings, Chief Economist at Stanlib; Izak Odendaal, Investment strategist at Old Mutual Multi-Managers and Busi Mavuso, CEO of Business Leadership SA