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Economists warn of global challenges ahead of SA budget speech

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Ahead of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech next week, economists have warned that the world economy is still in a state of recovery and that no sweeping measures should be anticipated.
They remain sceptical as to whether the minister will push the economy toward the growth targets set for this year. Economist, Professor Dillip Garach says South Africans are unlikely to expect a huge reprieve as the global economy continues to recover.
“The price of fuel is dependent on two factors, one is the rand dollar exchange and the other is the price of crude oil, now we know for a fact that the demand overall has increased for crude oil, our rand has not performed for the past 6 months now, so certainly there is no certainty as far as the fuel price is concerned. If the fuel price goes up then consumer goods will also go up and as a result the man on the street will suffer.”
Zuma said government wants to develop agriculture and tourismPresident Jacob Zuma has meanwhile said the goals set-out in the National Development Plan have proved difficult to achieve in the light of the recent global recession. Zuma said the crisis in the Euro-zone directly affects the local economy as it accounts for 21 percent of South Africa’s exports.
This he said following his State of the Nation Address last week.
Zuma also said government wants to develop agriculture and tourism to create more employment opportunities, saying the country is facing a crisis with youth unemployment.

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