News 08:00

BULLETIN 18 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Godongwana is confident South Africa will exit the grey list early next year
# The South African Federation of Trade Unions urges the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates
# And, Biden tests positive for Covid-19

# Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says the government’s speedy implementation of the action plan agreed to with the Financial Action Task Force will see the country exiting the grey list early next year. South Africa was grey-listed in February last year, for not complying with international standards that relate to money-laundering and addressing illicit financial flows. Godongwana says his department has allocated 31.2-million-rand in tax policy sub-programme within the economic policy, tax, financial regulation, and research programme to get the country off the grey list:

# The South African Federation of Trade Unions has called on the Monetary Policy Committee of the South African Reserve Bank to cut interest rates. This comes as the MPC announces its latest decision on interest rates today. Spokesperson Trevor Shaku argues that the current 11.75-percent prime lending rate significantly increases the financial burden on the working class. Shaku contends that this leads to higher debt servicing costs, increased consumer defaults, and pressure on small businesses. He urges the Reserve Bank to reconsider its inflation-targeting approach.

# The DA in Gauteng says it seems the provincial Health Department has not learnt lessons from the Life Esidimeni tragedy as it faces a lawsuit by the Cancer Alliance. According to a court application, the department has failed to use the 784-million-rand budgeted in 2023 to provide cancer patients with life-saving treatment and cut the radiation and surgical backlogs in Gauteng. The DA’s, Jack Bloom, says people should not die because of the department’s notorious corruption, incompetence, and negligence:

# The White House has confirmed that president Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and is suffering mild symptoms. The president’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, says he has received his first dose of the antiviral drug Paxlovid and is feeling fine. The 81-year-old will be at his Delaware residence where he will self-isolate in line with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Biden is under severe pressure in his campaign for re-election, facing calls to step down as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

# Cricket: England captain Ben Stokes says he backs Chris Woakes to take on the role of leading the bowling unit. The 35-year-old is in line to win his 50th Test cap when the second Test against West Indies starts at Trent Bridge this afternoon. This will be the first home Test since 2012 not to feature at least James Anderson or Stuart Broad, who have both retired. Stokes says Woakes will lead the attack and share the new ball with Gus Atkinson:

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-19-cents and the euro at 19-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-837-dollars-33-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-466-dollars-65-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-36-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….