Economy charts that matter to South Africans: How SA, the world has changed

Stanlib’s chief economist Kevin Lings highlights better-than-expected China Q2 2020 GDP growth, ongoing improvement in US retail sales, the escalation in US government spending, the lower than expected SA inflation, and the importance of on-line shopping in helping to boost retail sales. But there are some scary pictures in this set of graphs, too. As BizNews founder Alec Hogg notes in his Daily Insider newsletter:

• Particularly worrying is the graphic showing foreign ownership of SA bonds, a key number given the capital-hungry economy’s dependence on offshore capital to fund its development;
• In June this key percentage fell for the fourth consecutive month, to just over 30%. Also noteworthy is the US Federal Budget Deficit of $3trn – three times the worst point in the Global Financial Crisis aftermath.
• The graph that tracks UK retail sales, with its three month moving average up 55% compared with total sales down 7%. See Lings’ full graphs below.

You can read Hogg’s newsletter here. – Nadya Swart