The choice is stark yet simple. Either we prescribe our own medicine, or someone else will prescribe it for us. And it will be bitter, bitter medicine.
— Sipho Pityana, President - Business Unity South Africa
South Africa’s debt burden is spiralling out of control (Eskom by itself owes R500 billion), threatening to collapse the entire economy.
Increasingly, there are suggestions South Africa may soon need an International Monetary Fund (IMF) “bailout”, a first for the country.
In return for aid; the IMF imposes painful structural reforms and demands extreme austerity.
What would an IMF bailout look like?
The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield asked Sygnia Group CEO Magda Wierzycka and Peter Attard Montalto (Head of Capital Markets Research at Intellidex) for comment.
Listen to the interview in the audio below (and scroll down for quotes from it).
We’re not at the point yet of requiring the IMF…
— Peter Attard Montalto, Head of Capital Markets Research - Intellidex
…Government is embroiled in fighting political battles…
— Magda Wierzycka, CEO - Sygnia Group
The only way to bring expenditure under control is to begin retrenching people… there is no political will…
— Magda Wierzycka, CEO - Sygnia Group
We keep borrowing…
— Magda Wierzycka, CEO - Sygnia Group
We’re still a couple of steps away from an IMF bailout… but not many steps…
— Magda Wierzycka, CEO - Sygnia Group
We should be looking at privatising. Those entities should be someone else’s liability…
— Magda Wierzycka, CEO - Sygnia Group
I don’t think the introduction of prescribed assets is the worst option…
— Magda Wierzycka, CEO - Sygnia Group
Get the 10 most-read articles of the week from Bruce Whitfield’s The Money Show, emailed to you every Friday morning:
Read More
The South African telecoms giant has 58 million subscribers in Nigeria, says Lee Kasumba (Africa State of Mind).
Nedbank cut its growth forecast for 2019 from 1.3% to 0.5%. The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield interviews its CEO, Mike Brown.
The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield interviews Alex Simeonides, founder and CEO at Capital Legacy.
Merchants are not allowed to process refunds on debit cards, warns consumer journalist Wendy Knowler.
How much is enough? Is there a simple calculation? Warren Ingram, a personal financial advisor at Galileo Capital, explains.
The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield interviews Daniel Baines, author of “How to get a SARS Refund”.
Popular articles
Only when consumer journalist Wendy Knowler chased Standard Bank did they admit wrongdoing that cost a client R41 000.
Bruce Whitfield interviews David Lewis (Corruption Watch) and arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne.
Tshegofatso Selahle died on Sunday after being arrested by JMPD officers for allegedly skipping a robot in Johannesburg.
![[WATCH] Ndlovu Youth Choir shines once again with latest AGT performance](https://cdn.primedia.co.za/primedia-broadcasting/image/upload/fl_progressive,q_80/c_fill,g_faces,h_148,w_233/dwi8dme8dqfk0aqridyo.jpg)
The inspiring South African choirU2's Beautiful Day at America's Got Talent quarter-finals.
Trevor Noah cracked Forbes magazine’s list of highest-paid stand-up comedians in the world.
Magda Wierzycka – Sygnia’s renegade CEO – on her attitude toward money (hopes and fears, successes and failures, etc.).
EFF member Tebogo Mokwele and Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni respond to leaked CR17 bank statements.
![[WATCH] Father and daughter dance-off changes tune when she starts twerking](https://cdn.primedia.co.za/primedia-broadcasting/image/upload/fl_progressive,q_80/c_fill,g_faces,h_148,w_233/bur1z1yswligiueg9q2i.jpg)
Khabazela shares tweets and Facebook posts that have gone viral.
When you do take a taxi, drink at your destination and not in the cars, says City of Johannesburg MMC for Safety Micheal Sun.
