South African Business Confidence Falls as Ramaphoria Wanes
- RMB/BER’s index declined to 39 in the second quarter
- Policy and political issues must be resolved: RMB and BER
Buildings stand in the Central Business District on the city skyline of Johannesburg.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
South African business confidence retreated from a three-year high in the first quarter as the euphoria after the appointment of Cyril Ramaphosa as the nation’s president started to wear off.
The RMB/BER business confidence index fell to 39 from 45 in the prior period, FirstRand Ltd.’s Rand Merchant Bank unit and the Stellenbosch, South Africa-based Bureau for Economic Research said in an emailed statement Wednesday. This means three fifths of the 1,700 respondents now regard prevailing business conditions as unsatisfactory.