South Africa's economy

South Africa has developed hugely in last two decades. It has extended its public services

immensely in the whole country. Essential public services that have been extended include

education, health, housing, and electricity. Policies have been made to minimize the poverty

ratio.

Notwithstanding the significant achievements, South Africa still has challenges. Last

year, GDP growth went down to approximately 0.3%, and it is expected to be stagnant and will

be 0.6% this year and 1.2% next year. Due to the low GDP growth rate, enough per capita

income will not be produced even in 2018.This slow growth rate will lead to less confidence in

people and the demand for metals, and ultimately the prices of metals will be decreased. As the

metals are the key export of South Africa, this decline in demand contributes to depreciate the

rand exchange rate (Economic, 2017).

Considering the recent political situation, it seems that there are no indications for

breaking the stagnation. Public Debt is increasing, but national savings are only 16% of GDP

that is neither sufficient to sponsor the investment nor to assist the economic growth.

Some of the basis of future development may be addressed as follows:

Firstly, the low unemployment rate has sustained more than 27 percent, and poverty has

continued. South African officials should introduce the national minimum wage for reducing

poverty and development of workers (Gurria, 2017).

Secondly, recent calls for free education emphasize the importance of providing

training and skills. In the past five years, admission to higher education has increased

significantly. However, universities are face pressures of higher cost. Third, regional economic

integration can play a major role in the development and job creation in the region.
 Addressing above challenges will need enhanced d public and private investment. For

health and infrastructure, resources will also be required. It can be concluded that by government

financing can contribute to the better economic situation in the country. Government is already

struggling to enhance the economic growth, and there is a hope that government will be able to

create confidence in investors and economy will prosper shortly.

 References
Economic. (2017). South Africa: Econiomic Overview. Retrieved from EH:
http://www.eulerhermes.com/economic-research/country-reports/Pages/South-
Africa.aspx

Gurria, A. (2017, July 24). Launch of the 2017 OECD Economic Survey of South Africa.
Retrieved from OECD: http://www.oecd.org/southafrica/launch-of-the-2017-oecd-
economic-survey-of-south-africa.htm