First, as I mentioned earlier, COVID-19 will affect the prices of such items as energy and travel-related services in the short run. Prices of items that are sensitive to economic activity, such as food products, durable goods, clothes, and dining-out, are also highly likely to come under gradual downward pressure.
The recent government budget provides for capital expenditure by the major state-owned companies of almost R400 billon to be spent on infrastructure during the coming three years, the bulk of this on electricity and transport infrastructure. This should have a positive impact not only on current growth during the build phases, but also on future growth as infrastructure bottlenecks are eased.