South Africa Considers Setting Up Council of Economic Advisers

(Bloomberg) -- South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked him to consider a process to set up a council of economic advisers, the minister said.

“The president has spoken to me about consolidating a process about thinking through his idea around a council of economic advisers,” Mboweni told reporters in Pretoria on Friday. Ramaphosa has asked the Ministry of Finance to consolidate the thinking.

The cabinet had conversations and the question had arisen whether “we are pursuing the correct growth path for South Africa,” Mboweni said. “Are we not stuck in a thinking mode which is not relevant to the actual conditions in South Africa?" he said.

Government officials are meeting in Pretoria to present policy proposals to raise the level of South Africa’s economic growth. The outcome of the meeting will form the basis of economic policy proposals to be submitted to Cabinet for consideration in January. The South African economy emerged from recession in the third quarter and annual expansion hasn’t exceeded 2 percent since 2013.

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