The global lender expected SA to grow by 0.8% in 2017 following the dismal 0.3% it has forecast for 2016‚ it said in the World Economic Outlook.
The outlook is slightly more pessimistic than the National Treasury’s expectations for domestic growth.
In October last year‚ Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan forecast an expansion of 0.5% in 2016‚ improving to 1.3% in 2017.
But when delivering the medium-term budget policy statement Gordhan also cautioned that growth was expected to increase only moderately over the next three years and could be hampered by domestic risks‚ including new spending pressures and liquidity risks at some state-owned entities.
Nedbank economist Busisiwe Radebe said the bank expected 0.4% growth in 2016 and 1.1% in 2017 — slightly higher than the IMF’s projection.
«We are seeing a slight increase in commodity prices that might benefit [SA] and the end of the drought will also help. But these figures are not great. »
Meanwhile‚ the global economy is projected to grow at 3.1%‚ in line with the IMF’s October 2016 forecast.
Maurice Obstfeld‚ an economic counsellor and IMF research department director‚ said: «Much of the better growth performance we expect this year and next stems from improvements in some large emerging-market and low-income economies that in 2016 were exceptionally stressed. »
Obstfeld also said more of the lift would be due to better prospects in the US‚ China‚ Europe and Japan. Growth projected for advanced economies had improved slightly to 1.9% in 2017 and 2% in 2018.
Emerging-market and developing economies are estimated to grow at 4.1% in 2016‚ increasing to 4.5% in 2017. This was 0.1 percentage points weaker than the IMF’s October projection. But China’s growth forecast was revised upwards by 0.3 percentage points to 6.5% from October on the expectation of continued policy support.
However‚ «the continued reliance on policy stimulus measures‚ with rapid expansion of credit and slow progress in addressing corporate debt‚ especially in hardening the budget constraints of state-owned enterprises» raised the risk of a sharper slowdown or disruptive adjustment‚ the IMF said.
— TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE

Similarity rank: 1.1

Sentiment rank: -1.5

© Source: http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/businesstimes/2017/01/16/IMF-warns-that-SA%E2%80%99s-growth-will-remain-in-the-doldrums
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

(CLICKORLANDO) — LAKELAND, Fla. – And you thought dinosaurs were extinct.
Video of a massive alligator spotted in Lakeland was posted to Facebook on Sunday, raising the eyebrows of many.
Kim Joiner told News 6 that she captured the video at the Polk Nature Discovery Center.
“It looks like a dinosaur,” News 6 anchor Justin Warmoth said.

Similarity rank: 1.3

Sentiment rank: 2.3

© Source: http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/florida-dinosaur-caught-on-camera/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Kim Joiner told CBS affiliate WKMG that she took the viral video of the huge gator at the Circle B Bar Reserve at the Polk Nature Discovery Center. She estimated the gator to be at least 12 feet long.
Joiner posted video of the encounter to Facebook , and it has since been shared more than 25,000 times.
This guy ain’t a puppy. A woman took this video from a nature center in Lakeland. I won’t be visiting said nature center. (h/t @10NewsWTSP ) pic.twitter.com/FfKPMcsgh6
Kristi Buckley was also there, taking photos just feet from the gator.
“I probably should’ve been a little more afraid than I was,” she told CBS affiliate WTSP . “I was just so inspired by seeing this amazing creature come across the path who’d obviously been there for decades.”
Buckley told WTSP that the gator has a nickname among regulars at the reserve, “Mr. Humpback.” She and her husband however are calling it “Godzilla.”

Similarity rank: 3.1

Sentiment rank: 0

© Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/massive-florida-gator-stroll-reserve-video/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Op-Ed: Trump has succeeded in destroying our relationship with the world With the presidential inauguration only four days away, Donald Trump has not only succeeded in creating a polarizing and violent divisiveness in this country, but he has also jeopardized out relationships with the rest of the world. But after winning the electoral vote, the President-elect didn’t tone down his rhetoric, as some political pundits thought he would. Taking to Twitter, he became more vocal, using the social media site to blast anyone who spoke out against him, from a union boss to his latest attack on He butted in on the weather I have watched as Trump has worked to destroy our relationship with Mexico, our NATO allies and now the European Union. Then, over the weekend, he added insult to injury by threatening our good neighbor to the north, his press secretary saying very clearly that Canada could also be treated to I won’t even go into the CIA’s intelligence on alleged Russian hacking that possibly impacted on the election because the election is over and done. But Trump’s continuing attacks on U. S. intelligence agencies is dangerous, and a sure way to promote distrust in the agencies. This is something the American public does not need at this time. But after Trump’s weekend interview comments that NATO is obsolete, and his seemingly uncaring attitude regarding the state of the European Union, and his Brexit comments, even I was shocked. He succeeded in putting a number of European countries on edge, and further isolating the U. S. from its allies. And I believe that is the gist of Trump’s plan — to put the world on notice that he really doesn’t care about anything but his bottom line. After all, he is a businessman. And for what it’s worth, That is very dangerous. We have not been this close to a world war since the Cuban Crisis of the 1960s. Trump, with his very vocal and very big mouth seems to have no one big enough on his team to reign him in when he gets on a tirade, and this is going to hurt him, his policies and his presidency. As for the inauguration, it is going to be one of two things — either it is going to go smoothly, or it is going to be disastrous. The news media keeps squawking about us being in «uncharted territory» with this inauguration. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we? But in closing, I am saddened by what has been happening, and I am angry that the man who has been chosen to run our country is doing nothing more than running it into the ground. Donald Trump ran a campaign full of off the cuff promises of bringing back jobs, building a wall, doing away with regulations and other plans that were in themselves, frightening to many people. Many in the news media, when attacking his claims, were denigrated and accused of printing false or fake news. But after winning the electoral vote, the President-elect didn’t tone down his rhetoric, as some political pundits thought he would. Taking to Twitter, he became more vocal, using the social media site to blast anyone who spoke out against him, from a union boss to his latest attack on Civil Rights legend John Lewis He butted in on the weather drone confiscation incident by the Chinese Navy, a problem that was being handled through the proper governmental channels, to begin with. But his Twitter remarks succeeded in angering the Beijing government. He insulted China by talking to the president of Taiwan, adding to the now growing tensions. I have watched as Trump has worked to destroy our relationship with Mexico, our NATO allies and now the European Union. Then, over the weekend, he added insult to injury by threatening our good neighbor to the north, his press secretary saying very clearly that Canada could also be treated to tariffs for automobiles manufactured by U. S. automakers in Canada. I won’t even go into the CIA’s intelligence on alleged Russian hacking that possibly impacted on the election because the election is over and done. But Trump’s continuing attacks on U. S. intelligence agencies is dangerous, and a sure way to promote distrust in the agencies. This is something the American public does not need at this time. But after Trump’s weekend interview comments that NATO is obsolete, and his seemingly uncaring attitude regarding the state of the European Union, and his Brexit comments, even I was shocked. He succeeded in putting a number of European countries on edge, and further isolating the U. S. from its allies. And I believe that is the gist of Trump’s plan — to put the world on notice that he really doesn’t care about anything but his bottom line. After all, he is a businessman. And for what it’s worth, That is very dangerous. We have not been this close to a world war since the Cuban Crisis of the 1960s. Trump, with his very vocal and very big mouth seems to have no one big enough on his team to reign him in when he gets on a tirade, and this is going to hurt him, his policies and his presidency. As for the inauguration, it is going to be one of two things — either it is going to go smoothly, or it is going to be disastrous. The news media keeps squawking about us being in «uncharted territory» with this inauguration. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we? But in closing, I am saddened by what has been happening, and I am angry that the man who has been chosen to run our country is doing nothing more than running it into the ground. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com

Similarity rank: 4.4

Sentiment rank: -1

© Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-trump-has-succeeded-in-destroying-our-relationship-with-the-world/article/483757
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Colorado Springs , Colo., Jan. 16, 2017 – Everyone has at least one interesting story. The lucky among us have several. And it is such stories that inform us.
Not the professors. Not Hollywood actors. Not even the New York Times, as good as is the Times’ arts section.
Growing up, most of us are infused with the hope and ideology of the young and inexperienced. That is not a bad thing. Positive energy is never a bad thing. That energy when added to the belief one person can change the world is what drives some of the best impulses of nations.
Politicians, the good ones, who speak with flowery, hopeful rhetoric appeal to our best natures, to the young people hidden under the adults’ layers of living. They serve to remind us of the mission. That everyone can work together to make the world a better place. Kumbaya.
This week, for the first time since President Barack Obama first uttered his compelling message of “Hope and Change,” many of us are again in the mood for America at her best. Regardless of political persuasion, everyone wants America to be at her best.
Giving the negative demonstrators a pass, for now, even many of them or at least their acolytes, are setting this week aside to voice their concerns.
We are all concerned. Let’s begin there.
We’re told the president-elect has been scanning speeches of John F. Kennedy:
And of Ronald Reagan:
Perhaps of Martin Luther King:
As President-Elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office, he is striving to overcome the public indiscretions of a younger version of himself. He is working to disassociate those shortcomings from the honest and dedicated man we see today.
Many won’t choose to overlook his past. Many, mostly those who voted for him, already have.
Dr. King’s ‘Dream’ and Dr. West’s proscriptions realized
In any event, it falls to him now, as the man of the moment, to capture in all of us our youthful vibrancy, and our understanding of the American experiment as one of the pinnacles in the world’s history of governance.
Now, to the two stories:
The first was recounted over a Thanksgiving Day meal in Bayside Queens in the eighties. The story-teller was a 92-year old German lady referred to as “Grandma,” regardless of family connections. Grandma was well under five feet tall, with those cobalt blue eyes of many Germans, with a difference. Grandma’s eyes actually twinkled as she spoke, and her manner was reminiscent, not of an old woman, but of a young, playful elf.
“Grandma, tell us about Hitler. What was it like then?”
Grandma told us of growing up in Prussia, where Russian and German were both spoken. Of hiding Jewish ladies in their homes years before Hitler came to power. Of them storing their valuables in pouches hidden in their clothing. Of listening at the door for which language soldiers were speaking before answering. And of cannily adopting the language of the inspector soldiers.
Grandma was newly married, a young German woman with her future stretching before her. But she encountered teenaged boys marching in the streets, in boy scout-like uniforms. When she’d ask them what they were up to, they would brush her aside.
Grandma came home to her husband, and on a feeling, just a feeling, she announced they must move to America immediately. She was not Jewish. She was a good German. And she saw her country deteriorating before her eyes. She realized the hopes of her youth were only to be realized by getting out of Germany. By making her way to the shining democracy called America.
The rest of the story is that of typical immigrants. She became a chef for wealthy families, and bore two children. One grandson, Will, went all the way to his PhD in Italian history and was a concert-grade pianist. She sacrificed so that her family would have opportunities. Her story is a typical American story.
The second story occurred only last week.
A caller to the Michael Savage radio show firmly announced, “We need a communist revolution in this country. Everyone, (then) would work together.” When the host tried to engage him by commenting that communism leads to violent dictatorships, the caller persisted. “Crazy dictators are the (only) reason those countries don’t work.
It’s a shame that Bernie Sanders didn’t get in because communism begins with socialism.” “ Everyone would work together.”
That communal shibboleth drives the Judeo-Christian ethic. It is underlying the founding of this country. It has long created a tension between individualistic capitalism and “caring” communalism, also known politically as socialism.
That all should get along and work together toward common goals is the stuff of youthful idealism. What if Grandma had supported the “communalism” of Nazi Germany?
What if she shared in the ideal of an Aryan people, of whom she was a perfect example? What if she had remained in Germany, a “good German,” believing in the devil politician’s flowery rhetoric of a stronger, more racially perfect nation?
Grandma was a rebel. She trusted in her own ability to act as an individual. She eschewed group-think and (German) political correctness, to carve out her own life. No less than the Founding Fathers, Grandma sought freedom.
So, as Donald J. Trump becomes our next president, let us honor the fight that brought him to this point. But let us now reject communalism and embrace a man whose entire life has been based on individualistic capitalism. His persona is the same persona that founded America in the first place.
He is looking to the future, as a young man would. There is no problem he will not, or cannot face. He asks only that we give him a chance. The business man who lives surrounded by the gold of his efforts now wishes only to bring that wealth and individual power back to America.
It is a worthy goal.
And it is enough.

Similarity rank: 5.4

Sentiment rank: -1.9

© Source: http://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/donald-trump-mlk-and-jfk-embracing-americas-experiment-76589/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.