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South Africa’s middle class is in deep trouble

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GUEST – Andrew Fulton, Director at Eighty20

Eighty20 has released its 2023 Q4 Credit Stress Report (CSR) in collaboration with Xpert Decision Systems
(XDS) outlining developments in the credit sector as well as its impact on the economic landscape. The 2023 Q3 analysis brought a glimmer of hope to South Africa's credit sector for the first time in years.

This optimism was short-lived as Q4 highlighted a blend of both positive and negative indicators with the unemployment
rate increasing slightly, inflation creeping up, and consumer confidence dipping down again.

Despite this, there was a significant improvement within the credit sector as the percentage of loans in arrears
decreased by a full percentage point. Although our economy bounced back to its pre-Covid level in mid-2023, there was a 0.3% decline in GDP during Q3 of 2023, raising concerns of being at risk of a recession when the GDP figures are released on March 5th.
The UK has already slipped into a technical recession, and globally, theoutlook remains bleak.
21 Mar 2024 4PM English South Africa Business News · Investing

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