Staff Writer @ Lucid Living
The decline in the number of civil judgments for debt shows household balance sheets are on the mend in South Africa, an Investec economist said on Friday.
However, a substantial slowing in economic activity would slow this trend.
Annabel Bishop of Investec Group Economics was commenting on Statistics SA’s finding of a 22.9 percent drop for civil judgments to individuals, year on year, for October.
This meant that 38 800 people were issued civil judgments on their debts, compared to 50 000 a year ago, she explained.
“The historical average is 53 000 individual civil judgments a month, with figures of 60 000 during the 2009 recession, so October’s monthly outcome indicates an improvement,” she said.