South Africa plans to freeze public-sector wages for the next three years to help cut its salary bill and contain a yawning budget deficit. The proposal raises the risk of widespread strikes by the 1.3 million-strong public-sector workforce. Here is why the government wage bill is a problem. WHAT IS THE PUBLIC WAGE BILL?
* Mboweni doubles down on pledge to curb wage bill. * Raises risk of debt crisis unless action taken. * But debt seen peaking at higher level than in June. * Airline SAA gets 10.5 bln rand for rescue plan. By Mfuneko Toyana and Wendell Roelf.
Europe's rollout of vehicle charging points is not keeping up with the strong growth in electric car sales, an industry group said on Wednesday, warning that a lack of infrastructure could hamper future sales of low-emission vehicles.
The United States' trade deficit in goods narrowed sharply in September and inventories at retailers surged, sealing expectations for record economic growth in the third quarter after the worst performance in at least 73 years.
* Goods trade deficit decreases 4.5% in September. * Retail inventories jump 1.6% * Third-quarter GDP seen rebounding at a 31% rate. By Lucia Mutikani. The United States' trade deficit in goods narrowed sharply in September and inventories at retailers surged, sealing expectations for record economic growth in the third quarter after the worst performance in at least 73 years.
The following are forecasts for this week's remaining U.S. data from a survey compiled by The Wall Street Journal. Forecasts were last updated Monday afternoon. DATE TIME RELEASE PERIOD CONSENSUS PREVIOUS Thursday 0830 Jobless Claims Oct 24 778 K 787 K 0830 Real GDP 3 Q +32.0% -31.4* 0830 GDP Prices 3 Q +2.9% -1.8* 1000 Pending Home Sales Sep +3.0% +8.8% Friday 0830 Personal Income Sep +0.5% -2.7% 0830 Consumer Spending Sep +1.0% +1.0% 0830 Core PCE Prices M/M Sep +0.2% +0.3% 0830...
Saudi Arabia posted a budget deficit of 40.768 billion riyals in the third quarter this year, more than half its deficit in the previous quarter, as a spike in non-oil revenues offset a continued decline in oil income.
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell on Wednesday, pulled down by decreasing rates of capesize vessels. * The Baltic index fell 29 points, or 2.1%, to 1,384. * The capesize index slipped 88 points, or 3.9%, to 2,156.
By Aaisha Dadi Patel and Gabriele Steinhauser. JOHANNESBURG--South Africa's finance minister on Wednesday announced costly new bailouts for state-owned enterprises, including its flag carrier, as he predicted that the country's economy would shrink 7.8% this year. South African Airways, which has been grounded in recent months, will receive an extra 10.5 billion South African rand this year to help fund its rescue plan, while the state-owned Land Bank will get an additional...
Insurance companies retreated from selling home insurance in wildfire-prone parts of California in 2019, new state data shows, making it more difficult and expensive for homeowners in those areas to protect their homes. The availability of standard home insurance in fire-prone areas could shrink further after another round of wildfires struck the state earlier this year. New fires in Southern California prompted the evacuation of thousands of homes on Monday.
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