Gold Prices in South Africa
The recent announcement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that South Africa will be required to make a significant cut to their public spending should be cause for serious concern for investors in South African gold. According to the report, South Africa’s GDP will have to come down from around three percent of the world economy to around 2.5 percent of the world economy, this will in effect be quite detrimental for the country and will severely hurt its ability to attract capital and keep its financial system secure.
This does not necessarily mean that the government will have no choice but to slash their budget, as many analysts believe that the recent slump in the world economy has put an enormous amount of pressure on South Africa’s ability to manage the money they currently have, in particular, its economy is dependent on the mining industry. It has been estimated that around half of all South African gold production comes from the mines owned by two companies named Anglo American and Glencore, both of these companies have been extremely successful at increasing the value of their assets over the last two years and have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global recession. The current economic circumstances are creating a situation whereby the governments of South Africa and other economies in the world are facing significant difficulties and are struggling to make further cuts to their budget.
The most important point to consider when considering what impact this could have on South Africa’s gold prices is that despite the global recession, the number of buyers for South African gold has actually increased during the last couple of years. It was during the recession that demand for South African gold dropped significantly due to a combination of factors including the global recession, a weak economy in the West and the fact that a lot of people were losing their jobs and were taking a break in their working life.
There are a number of reasons why South Africa’s gold mining sector has grown so rapidly during the last few years and the number one factor is the fact that South Africa’s economy is starting to improve. The economic growth of South Africa is expected to continue, with unemployment in the country expected to remain relatively low.
South Africa is also a country where the government has a strong tradition of social and political stability, it also has a rich history of providing excellent education, which has led to a significant increase in the number of qualified nurses and doctors throughout the country. Although there are still pockets of unemployment and an unemployment rate of around twelve percent, the unemployment rate is less than half of that in the United States. The number of students applying for tertiary education has also increased steadily, which can only mean that there is more employment available in the health care sector in the future.
The number of tourists visiting South Africa has also increased dramatically over the last couple of years and there are more people choosing to visit the country for holidays and other activities during the summer months and Christmas time. As tourism has grown, South Africa has seen a large increase in its foreign exchange revenues and there has also been a growth in the number of tourists visiting the country. The growth of tourism and the development of tourism into South Africa have meant that the number of tourists visiting the country has increased, which in turn has meant that the number of tourists visiting South Africa has increased, which in turn has led to an increase in South Africa’s gold sales. Whilst this may have some short term negative impact on South African gold prices, there are some potential upside risks if this trend continues.