JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African government's plan to keep a lid on spending in the budget outlined this week will face a big test in the coming months when government workers finalise new wage deals.
The unions, representing 1.3 million workers, are at loggerheads with the government. Any deal above the five to six percent that has been set aside would add billions of dollars to expenditures and jeopardise the deficit projection of 4.6 percent of gross domestic product in the 2012/13 state budget.
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JOHANNESBURG Feb 24 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand touched two-week highs against a broadly weaker dollar on Friday and bonds reversed some of their recent losses, although continued scepticism that a lower budget deficit will cap supply should maintain pressure on local debt.
The yield on the 2015 bond closed 1.5 basis points lower at 6.66 percent while that for the 14-year issue dipped 2.5 basis points to 8.28 percent.
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Four key players in South African mining, taking part in a debate hosted by the Financial Times and facilitated by Brand SA, acknowledged that the sector is faced with major challenges, but agreed that SA mining is "open for business".
Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant, Chamber of Mines CEO Bheki Sibiya, BHP-Billiton chair Xolani Mkhwanazi and SA Mining Development Association (Samda) chair Peter Temane took part in the debate in Cape Town on Sunday on the eve of the 2012 Investing in African Mining Indaba conference.
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"Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index advanced for a fifth day, its longest rally since October, adding 0.4 percent to 33,703.38 by the close in Johannesburg. The index has gained 2.4 percent this week."
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