News 09:00

BULLETIN 20 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The rand has weakened following the postponement of the budget
# Cosatu welcomes the reconfigured ANC in Gauteng
# And the World Health Organisation continues mass polio vaccinations in Gaza

# The Rand took a knock on Wednesday following the postponement of Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget speech. The delay of the budget to March 12 follows a dispute within the government of national unity, over the minister’s proposed two-percent increase in value-added tax. The Rand weakened by 0.9-percent late Wednesday afternoon. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop says the initial market reaction was mild, and markets are still weighing up the implications of the budget delay. Old Mutual wealth strategist Izak Odendaal says markets don’t like negative surprises. 

Meanwhile, the agricultural organisation TLU SA says the postponement threatens the country’s economy. TLU SA’s, Bennie van Zyl, says the delay sends a negative message to both local and international investors that South Africa lacks a clear direction with its fiscal policy:

# Cosatu in Gauteng has welcomed the reconfigured ANC provincial executive committee in the province. The ANC has reconfigured both the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal PECs following poor performance in the general elections last year. Cosatu Gauteng chairperson, Amos Monyela, says the first task of the co-convenors will be to unite the ANC towards regional and provincial conferences, as well as the local government elections in 2026:

# The World Health Organisation says it will continue with its mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza this weekend. Two previous vaccination rounds in the Gaza Strip were successfully conducted in September and October 2024, reaching over 95-percent of the target. This time around, over 591-thousand children under the age of ten will receive the vaccine. WHO says the mass return of people to the north and south Gaza during the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, is likely to increase the spread of polio.

# Soccer: Defending champions Real Madrid have booked their spot in the last 16. Kylian Mbappé’s hat-trick saw Madrid seal a three-one victory over Manchester City in their second-leg knockout play-off at the Bernabeu, to seal a six-three win on aggregate. This is City’s earliest Champions League exit since 2012-2013. Paris St-Germain thrashed Brest seven-nil and ten-nil on aggregate, to progress to the round of 16 for a 13th consecutive season. Borussia Dortmund and PSV Eindhoven are also through.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-52-cents and the euro at 19-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-32-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-273-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-940-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-42-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….