On 11 May KPMG announced that according to statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Egypt had pushed South Africa into third place on the African continent, this based on the size of its gross domestic product (GDP). Algeria is in fourth position.
Nigeria displaced South Africa two years ago - and KPMG calculated that this should have occurred as far back as 2011, based on its own calculation, accounting for backward adjustments to the GDP. South Africa’s loss of position is mainly due to the rand’s weakness, which is unsurprisingly attributable to domestic issues - “largely political in nature”, KPMG stated.
According to Forbes magazine, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), in response to questions in Parliament, indicated that the unexpected firing of the finance minister on in December last year resulted in more than R100 billion being “wiped off government pensions”.
