Fin24 reports that for the first time since the start of the monthly BankservAfrica Disposable Salary Index (BDSI), salaries in SA have declined over a sustained period of time.
This supports the growing sentiment that salaries are unlikely to beat inflation in 2016, according to Dr Caroline Belrose of BankservAfrica. The BDSI September data was released on Thursday. Economist Mike Schüssler commented: "It is the first time since the great recession in 2008/09 that we have had four months in a row of actual real salary decline… It is very clear that total salaries are not growing at the moment. I also don't think we have much hope for big bonuses in December or March.” The average disposable salary declined in real terms on a year-on-year basis by 0.3% in the first nine months of 2016. But, private banked pensions are increasing at a very fast rate and, in the nine months to September, the average pension increased by 1.8% year-on-year.
- Read this report by Carin Smith in full at Fin24
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