SA’s economic outlook positive

POSITIVE GLOBAL growth, firm consumer and business confidence, wage and employment increases, growing foreign tourism and increased foreign investment are expected to shape South Africa’s economy in the long to medium term. But this may be constrained by inadequate infrastructure, shortage of skilled labour, HIV/Aids and the movement of the rand exchange rate. That’s according to the report, ‘The South African economy by sector 2007: medium-term prospects’ by Standard Bank, which explores the economic outlook in the country’s key sectors – agriculture, manufacturing, construction and trade.