News 16:00
BULLETIN 20 November 4 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Business confidence is now at its best level since the second quarter of 2021
# Tennis: Italy and Slovakia face off in the final of the Billie Jean King Cup
# And the Cambridge Dictionary reveals ‘manifest’ as its word of the year
# The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index rose to 45 index points in the fourth quarter of 2024, up from 38 in the third quarter. This was the third consecutive increase, which now puts the index almost 20 points above the second quarter of 2023. Confidence is now at its best level since the second quarter of 2021. The uptick in the index was broad-based, with new vehicle dealers the only one out of the five sub-sectors that saw a decline. Wholesale, retail and building contractors have confidence above the 50-neutral level.
Meanwhile, the DA welcomes the latest inflation figure, which dropped to 2.8-percent in October, calling it a sign of economic stability. However, the party says many low-income citizens still struggle with high prices. In response, they urge the Treasury to implement targeted tax relief measures, including expanding the list of VAT-exempt food items. The DA’s Wendy Alexander believes this will ease the financial burden on vulnerable households, reduce poverty, and help families manage costs more effectively:
# The MK Party has announced plans to celebrate its first anniversary with a major public rally at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on the 15th of December. Party leader Jacob Zuma will address the rally. The party’s headquarters in Johannesburg is set to open by the end of this month and the Durban office by next month. MK Party secretary general Floyd Shivambu told the media a gala dinner will be held on 16 December:
# Tennis: Italy and Slovakia will face off in the final of the Billie Jean King Cup in Málaga, Spain, this afternoon. Italy, last year’s runner-up, beat Poland 2-1 in the semifinal, while Slovakia recorded a similar score against Great Britain. World number four Jasmine Paolini leads Italy’s attack, also consisting of her Olympic gold medal partner Sara Errani, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Martina Trevisan and Lucia Bronzetti. Slovakia’s highest-ranked player, Rebecca Sramkova, is currently ranked 43rd in the world. The winning team will pocket prize money of 43.5-million-rand.
# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-11-cents and the euro at 19-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-674-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-629-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-34-cents a barrel.
# And finally: The word “manifest” has been picked as Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year for 2024. The term has gained traction on social media and was looked up almost 130-thousand times on the Cambridge Dictionary website this year. Lexicographers say the term, to manifest, has evolved to mean to imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen. The dictionary’s publishers say it shows how the meaning of a word can change over time. Last year’s word was “hallucinate”.
Stay tuned for more news………….