BRICS states warned of threats to growth

BRICS member states should guard against disruptions to their growth potential emanating from geopolitical tensions and rising barriers to global trade, Dr Iqbal Survé, chairman of the BRICS Business Council, said.

Dr Survé, the executive chairman of Independent Media, said while development opportunities existed for BRICS member states after several years of slow global growth, “beneath this welcome news, however, lies some deep uncertainties about the future of the global economy”.

He told the BRICS Business Forum marking the start of the 10th BRICS Summit in Joburg that while the scale and speed of economic globalisation, aided by the expansion of innovative technologies, had intensified in recent years, specific actions by several advanced economies had brought along negative effects.

This, he said, was evidenced by tariff barriers from US President Donald Trump’s administration, as well as the protracted and seemingly complex withdrawal of Britain from the EU, among others.

“Much of the anxiety has coincided with the global economic recovery bolstered by rising industrial activity on the back of the dissipating impact of the 2014 oil price collapse on commodity-exporting emerging markets and developing economies,” he said.

“Taken together, these findings reflect several development challenges BRICS member countries face over the next few years. As a group we must thus act wisely so as not to let changing economic dynamics disrupt our enormous potential for growth.”

He said the BRICS Business Council, whose mandate included making recommendations to respective governments in order to facilitate investment and trade within the group, would be releasing its annual report during the July 25-27 summit. – African News Agency (ANA)