Trevor Manuel predicts SA economic growth

SA finance minister Trevor Manuel, upon his arrival in Davos, Switzerland, predicted economic growth in South Africa, boosted by infrastructure spending and low interest rates, to exceed 4 percent in the coming year. "Our outlook for fiscal year 2005/06, which begins on April 1, would see growth in excess of 4 percent," Manuel said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Up to that date, the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates six times since June 2003, boosting consumer demand and helping the economy expand for twenty-four consecutive quarters. With rates at a twenty-four year low in 2005, South Africa was expected to sustain the growth rate and to cut a jobless rate of 28 percent. Though the economy is still strong and growing, interest rates have been steadily raised since the beginning of 2006.