THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects South Africa’s economy to grow by 5% in 2021, reflecting a better-than-expected growth in the year’s first half.
In its latest regional outlook for the Sub-Sahara region published on Thursday, the group warned that this growth could slow significantly in 2022 due to ongoing local issues.
“The outlook has been weighed down by the combined impacts of the third wave of Covid-19 and localized social unrest in July,” the group said.
“With the pace of structural reforms expected to remain limited and the faster-than-expected rebound in 2021, South Africa will be constrained in its ability to sustain the 2021 growth pace, so growth is expected to slow to 2.2% in 2022.”
The IMF has also warned that the entire Sub-Saharan region faces the prospect of repeated Covid-19 waves before vaccines become widely available.
The baseline assumes that localized lockdowns will accompany further outbreaks but
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