Sunday Times E-Edition

Retail sales surge while interest rates look set to increase

SA’S mining output rose 5.2% year on year in November, beating market forecasts. Platinum group metals and iron ore were the main contributors to the output, said Stats SA. Mining output was forecast to have risen 3.5% from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

KAAP Agri, whose interests span retail, fuel and manufacturing, reached a deal to buy independent fuel retailer PEG for R1.1bn, which will almost double its network as well as boost its empowerment credentials. The deal, still subject to shareholder approval, will add 41 service stations to its network, from 43 currently.

RETAIL sales surged more than expected by an annual rate of 3.3% in November, the highest since mid-June 2021, fuelled by the Black Friday shopping spree. Textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods were the biggest beneficiaries as consumers rushed to snap up special offers that mark the start of the festive season sales period. General dealers also reported brisk sales, said Stats SA.

CONSUMERS and businesses face another interest rate increase as soon as this week after inflation exceeded economists’ forecasts to log its biggest annual increase in five years. Inflation as measured by Stats SA’s consumer price index hit 5.9% year on year in December. This heaps pressure on the Reserve Bank to hike rates again when its monetary policy committee meets this week.

BUSINESS confidence among owners of small to medium-sized enterprises plummeted in the third quarter of 2021 as unfavourable economic conditions were worsened by load-shedding, high fuel prices and the Covid-19 pandemic. The SME index compiled by Business Partners shows that confidence among owners that their businesses would grow in the next 12 months plummeted to 33%.

ESKOM would burn more coal than it planned over the next year amid delays to a government programme to procure electricity from private producers. Eskom expects to generate 2% more energy from coal.

Business What A Week

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2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://times-e-editions.pressreader.com/article/282213719201344

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