Kganyago urges South Africa to gamble on economic growth

South Africa must take uncomfortable risks to accelerate economic growth and achieve fiscal sustainability, central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said.

“South Africans love to gamble, but when it comes to growth, it turns out we are risk-shy,” Kganyago told a public lecture at the University of South Africa in the capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday.

“We would be much better off if we could stop betting on sports and start betting on growth instead.”

For more than a decade South Africa has grown at less than 1% a year on average, hamstrung by graft, crime and snarl ups in sectors including energy, water and logistics.

“The fundamental question we need to ask ourselves, as country, is: do we truly want to grow? It seems the answer is obvious, but it is not,” Kganyago said.

“You don’t need ‘growth with adjectives’, where growth is only worth doing if it’s the right kind