PIT STOP.

(From Business Day (South Africa))

Byline: Judy Green

FUTURE economic growth can be expected to be more balanced, and we are certainly not heading for an all fall down" scenario. In Merrill Lynch's most recent quarterly economic review, company earnings are expected to remain solid, although the main beneficiaries of recent high rand commodity prices will be the resources companies.

Merrill Lynch's forecasts see the rand ending the current year at R7,30 to the dollar. This weakness has come in a quarter earlier than expected, shifting forecasts for this year's consumer price index (CPIX, which excludes interest rates on mortgages) up from 4,5% to …