By Kopano Gumbi
Global trade tensions and a potential value-added tax hike in South Africa could derail two years of slowing inflation, the country’s central bank governor said on Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance officials in Cape Town, Lesetja Kganyago said uncertain trade conditions and retaliatory tariffs could impact South Africa by tightening global financing conditions and affecting its exports.
South Africa’s G20 presidency has been overshadowed by the prospect of a global trade war since U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House last month.
Japan’s finance minister has pulled out of this week’s G20 finance meeting to focus on trying to pass next year’s budget, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is staying away amid a spat between Trump’s administration and South Africa.
“One thing looming large is elevated uncertainty by some of the trade measures taken by major economies,” Kganyago
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