So on Worlds Aids we take a look at what has worked and what has not in the fight against aids, finances and general issues and find the good news only.
We have learnt that in clinics in Gauteng SA, Aids workers are expressing great joy in that babies born from HIV positive mothers are HIV negative. The positive rates have climbed dramatically and we know this based on anti-retoviral programs, healthy eating programs and we hope a clearer program of using condoms. The long term impact on the economy has got to be a bright light for everyone involved in this program.
From a mortgage perspective SA banks are re-looking at their credit lending criteria and scoring mechanisms and already we have seen ABSA, one of the major banks increase their loan to value lending – could this be one of the reasons the overall JSE rising overnight. We saw that South African stocks surged more 4 percent on Wednesday, as coordinated efforts by major central banks to provide liquidity to the global financial system sent Johannesburg’s benchmark index to its biggest one-day gain in more than 18 months - well it certainly has to be a market sentiment influence. Loans on vacant land have become more difficult to obtain however entry level home loans are up at a 100% LTV. That’s good news.
Money transfers from South Africa out bound and the assistance in exchange control management has become easier and this service area is increasing and fast becoming the norm, saving clients thousands in time and money.
