Economy will probably go from bad to worse before ANC engages with IMF
Loading player...
Growth paths are elusive as our economic debates are warped by politics, while repairing the debt trajectory requires astute restructuring and policy reforms. The IMF’s advantage is that it deciphers economic woes and governance failures dispassionately. But will the lender of last resort deem SA’s politics incorrigible?
Global integration, and its benefits, have extinguished the concept of economic sovereignty. This era’s most formidable economic trends, technological advances and globalisation make adding value within global supply chains a non-negotiable for achieving rising prosperity. Yet SA continues to prioritise redistribution, which provokes an inward focus, so our per capita income has stagnated for a decade.
Our pre-Covid-19 purchasing power was inadequate to reduce unemployment and poverty. Consequently, a majority of South Africans have become reliant on the state for vital monthly payments, contributing to the state’s debt trajectory becoming unsustainable. The day of reckoning was postponed by households borrowing to maintain spending levels but, critically, those borrowings undermine purchasing power growth.
The IMF is uniquely experienced at assessing sovereign debt sustainability. Our debt trajectory cannot be made sustainable without restructuring the economy to swell exports while “reprofiling” government and household debt. But how much political adaptability is plausible before, or even after, the 2024 scheduled elections? Whereas betting on 2024 is a distant and vague proposition, the ANC’s lockdown decision-making lethargy points to it minimising IMF engagement for as long as possible.
The pandemic has worsened a long-percolating debt crisis while the nation’s ability to cover its imports has been benefiting from rising metal prices amid soft oil demand. Our present ability to fund imports encourages the belief that we can continue with meagre global integration if we can just access more capital. And the world has never been more flush with capital. But SA is not close to covering its high capital costs or constraining its reliance on debt. Nor are we positioned to meaningfully reduce unemployment and poverty.
The economy can only service the ballooning debt burdens through sustaining high growth. This is mathematically impossible unless exports grow sharply. Whereas our politics block accepting this, the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis will highlight it. The supranational’s lending criteria will require broad policy reforms and much debt restructuring before it can offer SA a large borrowing facility.
The ANC wants to attract more capital to feed its patronage network, but the nation’s repayment capacity has been exceeded. Focusing on infrastructure investments sidesteps ...
Global integration, and its benefits, have extinguished the concept of economic sovereignty. This era’s most formidable economic trends, technological advances and globalisation make adding value within global supply chains a non-negotiable for achieving rising prosperity. Yet SA continues to prioritise redistribution, which provokes an inward focus, so our per capita income has stagnated for a decade.
Our pre-Covid-19 purchasing power was inadequate to reduce unemployment and poverty. Consequently, a majority of South Africans have become reliant on the state for vital monthly payments, contributing to the state’s debt trajectory becoming unsustainable. The day of reckoning was postponed by households borrowing to maintain spending levels but, critically, those borrowings undermine purchasing power growth.
The IMF is uniquely experienced at assessing sovereign debt sustainability. Our debt trajectory cannot be made sustainable without restructuring the economy to swell exports while “reprofiling” government and household debt. But how much political adaptability is plausible before, or even after, the 2024 scheduled elections? Whereas betting on 2024 is a distant and vague proposition, the ANC’s lockdown decision-making lethargy points to it minimising IMF engagement for as long as possible.
The pandemic has worsened a long-percolating debt crisis while the nation’s ability to cover its imports has been benefiting from rising metal prices amid soft oil demand. Our present ability to fund imports encourages the belief that we can continue with meagre global integration if we can just access more capital. And the world has never been more flush with capital. But SA is not close to covering its high capital costs or constraining its reliance on debt. Nor are we positioned to meaningfully reduce unemployment and poverty.
The economy can only service the ballooning debt burdens through sustaining high growth. This is mathematically impossible unless exports grow sharply. Whereas our politics block accepting this, the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis will highlight it. The supranational’s lending criteria will require broad policy reforms and much debt restructuring before it can offer SA a large borrowing facility.
The ANC wants to attract more capital to feed its patronage network, but the nation’s repayment capacity has been exceeded. Focusing on infrastructure investments sidesteps ...