Middle East war has ‘sapped’ confidence – SBG’s Goolam Ballim

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

Welcome to The Property Pod, South Africa’s leading property investor podcast, right here on Moneyweb.

On this weekly show, we get insider insights from leading executives, analysts, developers and entrepreneurs in the country’s dynamic real estate sector.

We have a heavyweight guest on this latest podcast, who will give us a broader perspective and insights on the SA economy, especially around what’s happening in the world right now with the economic fallout from the Middle East crisis following the US-led airstrikes on Iran.

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Read/listen:
Iran conflict puts the emerging-markets revival to the test
Oil soars above $100 as Iran war forces more production cuts
Oil shock: Brace for R5/l to over R8/l SA fuel spike
Government ‘closely watching’ the oil price and jet fuel situation – Creecy
Middle East crisis pressures SA trade, oil and rand

Our guest is one of SA’s top economists, Goolam Ballim, who is the chief economist at Standard Bank Group (SBG) – Africa’s biggest bank by assets.

We asked him about the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on SA, especially with the spiralling oil price and increased volatility in the markets. This has effectively taken interest rates cuts, touted by SBG and other banks at the start of the year, off the table.

Read/listen:
Over R2trn JSE wipeout
SA bonds plunge as oil rise fuels inflation fears
$100 oil risks reigniting food inflation
April fuel prices set to rocket
Standard Bank believes SA stock valuations remain compelling

But will we see interest rate hikes as the spike in oil prices fuel inflation?

Ballim weighs in on that as well as the impact on the property market, which seemed rosy just a few weeks ago, with expectations of rate cuts, increased economic growth, and other tailwinds.

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Now it’s a case of “sapped confidence” or a “breach of confidence”, as he puts it. 

* You can listen to the full podcast above or download it from iono, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

For previous episodes of The Property Pod, click here. 

Read/listen:
‘Incredible’ performance for SA property stocks, but what will 2026 hold?
The big JSE property stocks trading at premiums …

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