WORLDVIEW: Locked down or not, SA faces sovereign bankruptcy risk
As some business leaders clamour for the end of lockdown and a few government voices question some of the rules, a broader reality is being ignored: locked down or not, South Africa faces a rising risk of sovereign bankruptcy.
The lockdown has hurt the SA economy. No one denies that. And it seems to be failing at its core job of protecting the vulnerable β the poorest and sickest people in South Africa, who live in crowded conditions with no running water, are not practising social distancing. Because they can't.
But all that aside, there is a bigger global picture. And that picture looks roughly like this. Global economic output is falling. The IMF is predicting the worst global downturn since the Great Depression, made all the more shocking by its speed and universalism β every country on earth has been hit at the same time.
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