Business mood lifts a smidgen but GDP figures test nerve

BUSINESS confidence, as measured by the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, registered a small month-on-month increase in November, driven by higher exports and imports. The confidence index came in at 92.7 points, up one point from October but still 3.4 points below November 2018’s figure.

RIDE-hailing app Bolt plans to double its service in SA to include at least 30 more cities and suburbs as it steps up its challenge to Uber’s dominance. The tech and transport company, formerly known as Taxify, has raised more than $200m (R2.9-billion) from investors since its launch in 2013.

OPEN-pit mining and building material supplier Afrimat said there was still life left in SA’s ailing construction sector, with its measure of building activity rising 5.1% in the third quarter from the second. The index, compiled by economist Roelof Botha, has finally seen a reversal of a fourquarter trend of decline.

THE economy contracted for a second quarter this year in the three months ended September as farming, mining and factory output slumped. GDP shrank an annualised 0.6% against a revised 3.2% expansion in the second quarter, Stats SA said. The economy expanded 0.1% from a year earlier.

REDUCED demand for bakkies by the government and the agricultural sector dragged down the overall new-vehicle market in November. Figures from the department of trade & industry showed that aggregate sales across all vehicle categories fell 5.8% against November 2018. Bakkies accounted almost single-handedly for the decline. MANUFACTURING activity declined in November, with signs suggesting there is little chance of a recovery in manufacturing production in the fourth quarter. The Absa purchasing managers index fell to 47.7 from 48.1 in October.