SA’s post-election policy direction, Ethiopia crisis spirals

Next week’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in South Africa is likely to provide an early signal that the government is scaling back its fiscal consolidation plans following the ruling ANC party’s poor showing in local elections. Elsewhere, the ratcheting-up of Ethiopia’s year-long conflict has pushed the country closer to all-out civil war, with potentially devastating human and economic consequences. At the very least, the threat of a disorderly default is growing.