Ramaphosa says pay up; SA debt crisis; Mashaba quits; Boeing rocked; Pound perks up

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on citizens to pay their electricity bills. Eskom is owed about R24bn.

With the National Treasury’s medium-term budget due for release towards the end of the month, economists in a Bloomberg survey expect a fiscal gap of 6.1% of gross domestic product for this year as money for Eskom, the public broadcaster and national airline sap resources.

Herman Mashaba said he will quit as mayor of Johannesburg, a major blow to the main opposition party that rules South Africa’s economic hub and has been battling to quell infighting within its ranks, reports Bloomberg.

Offshore investors sold a net R1.38bn ($94m) of South African stocks last week and bought more than R 4bn in bonds, says Reuters, which was reporting on data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Wall Street kicked off the week on an upbeat note on Monday after the United States and China showed some signs of progress in resolving their trade war, but a fall in Boeing’s shares pressured the blue-chip Dow index, says Reuters.

Sterling traded near a five-month high amid speculation Prime Minister Boris Johnson will eventually be able to win parliamentary backing for his Brexit deal, says Bloomberg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
21 Oct 2019 10AM English South Africa Investing · Business News

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