SA Budget speech 2012

The global environment remains highly uncertain.  While there are signs of a revival in the US economy, much of Europe is in recession, and significant financial risks cloud the global economic outlook.

South Africa’s finances are in good health – get the full SA Budget Speech 2012 today!

Send Money from SA to New Zealand

You may wonder why you will ever need to send money to any place unless you are buying something from that country.  Stop.  Take a minute to think about what reasons you would to need to send money from SA to New Zealand as an example.

If you are an expatriate from New Zealand living in South Africa you will see offers of comprehensive solution for individuals and businesses searching for an efficient foreign exchange broker to send money from SA to New Zealand and with claims that Transferring money to New Zealand no longer takes weeks, it is quick and unlike your normal bank with painful procedures the service that is provided is smooth and dedicated to you.

What you want for wire transfers or money transfer services is someone who can send money from SA to New Zealand and offer trades in bulk and has corporate accounts with all the major banks in South Africa

A provider who trades through a Corporate Cash Manager (CCM) Account at Investec as they can obtain the best trade rate from their Capital Markets.

A money transfer service that remains an independent organization and will always go with the best authorized dealer.

A wire transfer business that provides clients with their own dedicated trader – where clients have direct access to their trader and can inquire for live rates and transactions are conducted via telephone and email so ease of transfer is clear to see.

In South Africa you need Expert Exchange Control Advise where Tax Clearance Certificates are arranged as part of the service at no extra cost.

When you send money from SA to New Zealand, you want no other associated fees; and your service provider must not charge transaction fees or any other fees other than the rate you as the client have been quoted.

Where is our hard-earned money going?

It is obvious that today’s 2012 budget speech by Pravin Gordhan will affect everything that we are going to be paying for in the coming year; this includes our insurance premiums, the interest rates on our bonds, borrowing money, education, and all the utilities that we use on a daily basis. The SA budget will also affect the food we consume, the clothes we wear, our old-age pensioners, water and lights, our business lives, and anything to do with leisure.

It is going to be interesting to see how the 2012 budget speech will affect the ordinary man in the street, and especially those that are in need of buying a home this year.  The budget will no doubt affect anyone investing in property in a very big way.

If the SA Government continues to spend as much on public servants’ accounts it would then be a tough one to swallow, and will have an adverse effect on everyone living in SA.

Although the property market has slowed down its pace in the past couple of years, there are those that still need to buy homes for a variety of reasons. These could be first time home buyers, those taking up job opportunities in different and varied locations for a variety of reasons; there is a multitude of reasons for buying or changing a home, even in a tough economic climate, and the 2012 budget speech is going to have a domino effect on those that need to invest in properties, especially if it is for the very first time.

Many home owners forget to build essential insurance into their costs, and remember that insurance companies are always going to look at a multitude of factors that will affect monthly premiums. Location is always a very pertinent point to take into consideration, regardless of what the outcome of the SA budget is going to look like later on today. Insurance houses will always take into consideration the level of security you have installed to safe-guard your largest asset as well, and location, location, location is the biggie here.

Bear in mind that if you buy property where there is a tendency for landslides or flooding, your insurance house has the choice to exclude these conditions; find out if your insurance would be willing to cover for flood damage, etc., especially if you live in an area that is prone to natural disasters; most times, though, the insurance company will load your household insurance for these claims. Remember that looking at the fine print and asking whether your insurance would cover  for these eventualities is all-important. If you are in doubt regarding insurance cover, it is always prudent to ask someone you trust to give you and honest second opinion. Should the location of your home have a tendency towards being a fire-hazard, such as a thatch roof home, then your insurance company would automatically insist that you add on extra lightning conductors to safe-guard your home.

SA Budget or no, when looking to buying or investing in a property, look for the best in the business; select a trustworthy estate agent with an excellent track record, and when insuring your home, it is prudent to shop around to find a quote and package that is best suited to your needs.

When you invest in a property your insurance company will be particular about a couple of other factors when covering your home.

These are:

• Safety; ensure that all the wiring, plumbing or gas lines are in peak condition.
• Your prospective home has to be in a reasonably good state of repair when you are looking for insurance cover.

Remember that you will have to have a good credit record when applying for a bond, or for insurance so ensure that your credit history is healthy; you can easily find this out online from the three major credit bureaus.

It is going to be an interesting and challenging year not only for South Africa, but also for our European brothers and sisters. Do your homework before making any financial decisions in 2012 to safeguard your assets. The 2012 budget speech focus is going to be interesting and will show where our money is going to be spent.

Terry Bennett

Trafficfundi

Sterling Rand was locked in a pronounced downtrend until the start of February. Last Thursday saw the pair recover to trade to its highest level since the 26th January following strong British Retail Sales numbers and a wobble in share markets due to fears over Iran’s nuclear programme and the lack of positive noises coming out of Greece. However, this week’s session has seen the GBP ZAR exchange rate open up lower than Friday’s market close – a sure technical signal of negativity in a market. With global stock indices making gains during the first session of this week, as institutional investors factor in good news from Greece which is expected within the next twenty four hours, there is the potential for this to be another poor week for the Pound against the Rand. Consecutive closes below 11.8875, which was the 5-month low of February 3rd, would be required to provide confirmation that the downtrend for GBP ZAR has been re-established.

You can expect some fluctuations tomorrow when the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordham announces the budget in South Africa with petrol prices looking to increase we expect by 20c a lite and levies on fuel to increase.

What an interesting week for the SA Rand.  Fisrt big gains against the US dollar, then losing ground and last week saw the British pound and ZAR exchange rate stage a mini-recovery.

The pair was languishing below the 12.0000 level last Monday – and of course by Friday lunch time, it had recovered to trade as high as 12.2697.

However, buying pressure built up for the Rand during the weekend close, seeing GBP ZAR open at a lower level than it had closed at on Friday, when the global currency markets re-opened on Sunday night.

Such a ‘price gap’ in a downward move is generally considered by analysts to be a negative indicator. This does not bode well for Sterling’s chances against the Rand during this week’s session.  But for those who need to get SA Rands now is the time to transfer money to SA at no transfer fees.

With the real likely possibility that the EU finance ministers will offer a new round of financing for Greece it seems that the Greek negotiations continue amid a series of rumours that a resolution is close to being agreed, but still nothing official.