Is the recession receding?

New data published by the Reserve Bank has pointed to the possibility that the recession we may not even be in is starting to lift. This is according to the leading economic indicator which measures expected conditions at least six months in advance. It is still lower over the course of the next year but has started looking up month on month. This means that things may be getting better. So what can you do to beat the recession?

• Always plan a budget
• Compare your credit card interest
• Don't splash out yet

This data was also looked at by The Times. Although they were fairly pessimistic about a technical recession being entered as this is the consensus of the economists that they interviewed. The article explains in more detail how the leading indicator works and how it follows the business cycle giving a fairly accurate approximation of trends within the economy. The marginal increase however is still way down on the figures we experienced for much of last year.

Business Day further calls the data indicative of any recession we may enter as being lesser than has been expected. This is marginally good news, but it looks like we will weather the global recession rather easily here in South Africa. The article also carries some more positive comment by economists who do not think that we will enter a recession at all, but rather post minimal growth figures rather than contract. In the face of the global storm we are still fairly decoupled and the crisis comes at us by proxy.