Comment by Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural economist at FNB Agri-Business South Africa : A combination of favourable crude oil price outlook, lower local inflation with risks to the downside, and economic contraction afforded the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) room to cut the repurchase ...

Comment by Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural economist at FNB Agri-Business Agriculture received some positive news this week. Firstly, it was the further upward revision to the country’s crops estimates with the South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) pegging the 2019/20 crop 17.52 ...

Comment by Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural Economist at FNB Agri-Business South Africa: In a surprise move earlier today, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) cut its repurchase rate by 100 basis points to 4.25% which brought the prime lending rate to 7.75% effective from 15 April 2020. With ...

Comment by Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural economist at FNB Agri-Business The South African agriculture sector as well as consumer can breathe a sigh of relief following the announcement of a massive fuel price decrease of R1.76/ litre of both the retail price of the 93 ULP and LRP petrol, ...

Comment by Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural economist at FNB Agri-Business South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) made a further upward adjustment to its 2019/20 crop estimates by raising the expected output by 1.8%  to 17.07 million tons of grain and oilseed crops. The country’s ...

In the midst of a recessionary domestic economy, favourable inflation outlook and lower oil prices, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) got room to cut interest rates by 100 basis points to 5.25%. This will go a long way in alleviating pressure on the agricultural sector especially in drought ...

By Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural Economist at FNB Agribusiness South Africa: The latest drop in the fuel and diesel prices of 19c and 55c a litre, respectively, as a result of lower oil prices on the back off the coronavirus, will provide relief for farmers. The cumulative decrease in ...

The latest forecast released by South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) points to a somewhat optimistic outlook for the agricultural sector as seasonal conditions turned positive. The current estimates point to a sharp recovery in output of summer crops with the total maize planted area ...

• Adequate maize supplies for 2018/19 marketing season • Positive for food inflation • Could impact positively on interest rate outcomes Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural Economist at FNB Agri-Business The latest production estimate showed a further upward adjustment to the crop estimates with ...

South Africa :The recent cut in interest rates, coupled with a reduction in petrol prices and a stronger Rand, while marginal, will go a long way to provide relief to farmers who are currently struggling considering the tough economic environment. Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural Economist at ...