Sunday Times E-Edition

Hits&Misses

Rival gold giants join forces in Ghana; at home farmers lose heart

GOLD Fields and rival AngloGold Ashanti proposed a joint venture in Ghana that would create Africa’s largest gold mine. Gold Fields would hold two-thirds of the venture that would combine the operations of its Tarkwa mine with those of AngloGold’s Iduapriem, the companies said in a joint statement. AngloGold would hold the remainder of the venture.

MINING and manufacturing output contracted in January on an annualised basis, but the results were still better than market expectations. The readings improved when measured on a monthto-month basis, raising hope that South Africa can avoid a technical recession — two successive quarters of economic contraction. Mining production fell 1.9% year on year and manufacturing production was 3.7% lower.

S&P Global put Eskom’s debt assessment on positive watch, meaning it may upgrade the power utility. The move followed the announcement last month that Eskom will receive R254bn in debt relief from the government, the ratings company said.

THE agribusiness confidence index for the first quarter fell to its lowest level since the early days of the Covid pandemic, indicating the extent to which farmers and other roleplayers in the value chain are feeling the squeeze of the power crisis and other factors. The index, compiled by the Agricultural Business

Chamber and the Industrial Development Corporation, fell to 44 from 49 in the previous quarter.

INFLATION

expectations rose at the start of 2023, suggesting the Reserve Bank may keep interest rates higher for longer.

Average inflation expectations for the year rose to 6.3% in the first quarter from 6.1% previously, according to a survey conducted by the Bureau for Economic Research.

TRANSACTION

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2023-03-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

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