SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago says load shedding has a huge impact on the country’s economy.
Kganyago says due to the impact of rolling blackouts, the country’s economy is now growing at a slower pace. Kganyago was speaking at the SARB talk to the SARB Forum in Soweto, south of Johannesburg.
“Load shedding impacted on economic activity, we expect that the South African inflation, South African economy will only grow by 0.4% this year. If it was not for load shedding, this economy would have grown 2% faster, just like so roughly 2.3 or 2.4%, if it was not for load shedding.”
Kganyago also says inflation impacts the poor the most. The governor says due to the COVID-19 shocks the country slipped into a recession.
This meant that supply couldn’t meet demand, which lead to increases the prices of food, fuel amongst others.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted our lives and thus contributed to economic volatility and hardship globally and South Africa was no exception and that our economy slipped into a recession as a result of the COVID-19 air shock.”
