(Reuters) - South African business confidence fell to a four-year low in December as companies were nervous about economic growth in 2008, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said on Wednesday.
The Business Confidence Index fell to 94.8 points, its lowest level since November 2003, after declining to 95.8 in the previous month.
SACCI said in a statement a stable rand currency assisted exports and manufacturing output,
"The other sub-indices all turned negative...trade, residential construction and import volumes declined substantially while inflation moved higher while the stock market lacked direction."
Inflation climbed to a four-and-half year high of 7.9 percent year-on-year in November, raising expectations that the central bank would hike interest rates again on Jan 31, after raising them by 400 basis points since June 2006.
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