Sanele Mjikane
Our sentiment data, developed with Penta, suggests that labour market conditions have loosened and pay growth has slowed abruptly through the summer. If this trend is reflected in official data, it could motivate some Monetary Policy Committee members to join Swati Dhingra in voting for rate cuts at successive meetings.
Israel’s ground invasion into south Lebanon and its assassination of prominent Hezbollah leaders followed by Iran’s missile attack on Israel marks a significant escalation in the conflict. Oil prices climbed above $75 pb in the initial aftermath and how Israel decides to respond will be critical for determining the economic and financial ramifications.
Amid heightened regional tensions, Lebanon’s inflation rate eased marginally to 35% in August – the lowest reading in over four years. The deceleration was due to the fall in food and transportation prices which offset the acceleration in prices of housing and recreation. We project annual inflation to average 46% in 2024, although risks are skewed to the upside in light of the escalated conflict with Israel.
“What CTOs Think: Navigating the Path to the AI Enterprise” is a report that explores how CTOs are approaching this current era of digitalization and offers recommendations for a successful transformation to an AI-powered enterprise. The survey, conducted in collaboration with Oxford Economics, covers 2,000 C-suite leaders, including 509 CTOs, across nine countries and 18 sectors, including Aerospace, Automotive, Energy, Life Sciences, and Technology.