The SA Reserve Bank’s worst-case scenario, which would see the country’s economy lose 1.1 percentage points in growth and lead to the loss of 125 000 job opportunities, is fast becoming a reality.
The central bank’s latest forecasts predict that the economy will sacrifice 0.4 percentage points in GDP growth if Eskom’s availability factor declines to 65% for a few months.
If the power station fleet staggers to 60% availability, the expectation is that 1.1 percentage points will be lost.
Up until last week, Eskom had only been able to deliver 63% of its installed capacity.
The past week saw a historic low for Eskom, with the ailing state-owned enterprise being forced to implement stage 6 load shedding (rolling blackouts).
The current wave of rolling blackouts is the fourth time that extensive blackouts have occurred in South Africa since 2007.
It is not yet known what the availability figure over this period was, but it is expected to be significa
Continue reading…