News 16:00

BULLETIN 30 October 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Finance minister Enoch Godongwana reveals a strategy to lift the economy to a higher and inclusive growth path
# Trump and Harris launch a frantic swing state tour today before next week’s US elections
# And cycling: Next year’s Tour de France will be raced in France exclusively once again

# Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says economic growth of 1.8-percent is forecast over the medium term. In his medium term budget policy statement presented in the National Assembly, he downgraded the growth forecast for 2024 to 1.1-percent, from 1.3-percent in February. Godongwana says the policy statement outlines government’s strategy to lift the economy to a higher and more inclusive growth path. The strategy is anchored on maintaining macro-economic stability, implementing structural reforms, supporting growth-enhancing infrastructure and building state capability.

# Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya says economic revitalisation is essential for the city’s financial sustainability. Addressing the council, Moya emphasised that a vibrant economy drives growth, benefiting both formal businesses and informal traders. The mayor announced that the Marabastad Informal Trading Stalls Project would launch soon. She says the city will also recruit two-thousand-500 new Public Employment Programme beneficiaries by January:

# The revitalisation of Johannesburg’s central business district is in progress, focusing on enhancing safety, infrastructure, and the overall urban environment. The initiative aims to attract businesses and residents back to the area by improving public spaces, increasing police presence, and addressing issues like crime and sanitation. Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi told the media the office of the premier will relocate to a new building on Marshall Street as part of this revitalisation effort: 

# Donald Trump and Kamala Harris launched a frantic tour of swing states today in the final week of the campaign for the US presidency. Harris will travel to North Carolina and then to Pennsylvania, focusing again on two of seven battleground states that could determine who wins. North Carolina has not voted for a Democratic president since Barack Obama in 2008. Trump will be in that same state today. His second rally is planned for yet another swing state, Wisconsin in the Midwest.

# Cycling: The 2025 Tour de France will be raced exclusively in France for the first time since the 2020 Covid edition. After successive starts outside France, in Copenhagen in 2022, Bilbao in 2023 and Florence in 2024, the 2025 start is in the northern French city of Lille. Entirely absent from the 2024 route due to the Paris Olympics, the 2025 edition has eight stages in the north and west and ends with eight laps along the cobbles of the Champs-Elysees.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-28-dollars-61-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-775-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….