South African consumer confidence slumped to a 10-year low in the third quarter as strikes hit the manufacturing and mining industries and gasoline costs soared to a record.
The FNB/RMB index dropped 9 points to minus 8 as sentiment across all income groups fell, Johannesburg-based First National Bank and the Bureau for Economic Research said in an e-mailed statement today. The index climbed 8 points in the second quarter as inflation stabilized and fears of power outages failed to materialize.
