Market Commentary | The week that was
On Monday (10 October) Transnet officials and striking unions met at the offices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to resolve a wage dispute at the state rail, port and pipeline company. Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi said while there were labour challenges, it must be taken into account that the ports were made up of several terminals with different owners. "There are terminals that are owned by Transnet, and terminals that are owned by private sector operators. The current dispute is between Transnet and its unions. This does not include private sector-run terminals. All private sector operated terminals in all ports are operating at 100% capacity.”
On a more positive note: South Africa is set to obtain loans to the value of a multibillion-rand from the governments of the United States and Germany to accelerate the country’s Just Energy Transition (JET) programme. Last week the SA economy received a massive boost when Germany committed to a further funding of EUR355 million (R6.2 billion).
News from abroad: US non-farm payrolls surprised on the upside as the largest economy in the world continues to add jobs, despite the Federal Reserve’s (FED) attempt to slow the economy down. Analysts predict this will reinforce further rate hikes. A total of 263,000 jobs were added to the US economy while 250,000 were expected.
Looking at the week ahead: The 2022 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) started on Monday (10 October) and will continue until Sunday (16 October).
