Friday, February 19, 2010

Major Global Sporting Events Helping Other Countries Who Need It

South Africa’s economy is to grow 2.3% in 2010.

It seems like big sporting events such as The World Cup and the Summer Olympics in 2016 are helping countires that have been underdeveloped compared to the previous countries that hosted these events and are giving their economies a great boost. As I suspected, Brazil’s economy has risen since they were chosen to host the 2016 Olympics in Rio and so has South Africa’s economy when they will be hosting the World Cup.

The South African government expects the country's economy to grow by 2.3% this year, helped by the football World Cup in the summer.

The prediction of a return to economic expansion after last year's recession was given by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan as he delivered the budget.

He expects the World Cup to add 0.5% to the country's 2010 economic growth, led by visiting football fans' spending.

Mr Gordhan added there would be a new effort to boost youth employment.

The budget comes as South Africa is mired in an overall unemployment rate of about 25%, and an increasing gap between the rich and poor.

Mr Gordham said the government aimed to reduce its budget deficit in the medium term, but its immediate focus was on helping the continuing economic recovery.

He also pledged to maintain a grip on inflation, and said there would be no moves to fix the price of the rand.

9 comments:

  1. Like mentioned in the other article, low ticket prices will give sports fans more money to spend in the country as well. 0.5% economic growth on fan spending alone is a big increase. This will only fuel economic activity and growth. It is nice to see a country thrive when it is hosting a sporting event. Sports are a way to unite a country and even the whole world. Sport fans that travel to South Africa to watch the world cup might not speak the same language, but they have two things in common; they will help the economy in South Africa flourish and they both have the common passion of Soccer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Jason that a 0.5% increase is substantial. As I said yesterday, any large sporting event will help an economy flourish since there will be an increased amount of spending due to fans coming to see the event. It's good to see a country in hard economic times start to change for the better. A

    ReplyDelete
  3. Woo hoo! Go Brazil! I'm glad that investments and overall economy has benefitted from their selection to host the Olympics!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hosting a major sporting event is a great privilege and opportunity for any country. I am happy to know that South Africa is prepared to make the most of this opportunity. The Youths will benefit from the new wave of employment. But it must also be noted that this will be temporary employment (though better than none). A, T

    I hope the government will put that 0.5%earned to good use so that the people of South Africa will be better-off even after the World Cup.

    This article makes me think more about the catch-up effect that we did in class. A developed country would probably not have earned such a significant increase in economic growth as the growth predicted for South Africa.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am glad that South Africa is catching up! It's great to give them an opportunity for profit, jobs, resources, and the facilities that will be there for many many years. It seems that the Olympics will not only have a short-term benefit but a long-term one as well. T

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm glad underveloped countries are now given the chance to host the world cup rather than the higly modern european/north american countries. It is good that this is happening.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Like I said yesterday, if a major sporting event comes to a country, it will help that country's economy. It is nice to see that a struggling country such as South Africa is going to get some help from hosting the World Cup. This will definitely help business's in the country when people from all over the world come to see the great sporting event. Spending will be increased as a result of numerous fans coming to see the World Cup. This is going to help South Africa, a country that desperately needs it. (A)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeah this is very similar to your last article. It's nice to see these big sporting events, like the World Cup, come to countries or cities and help their economies. Its a great way to pick up a little extra revenue in a time of need. A

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hosting the event will bring a lot of benefit for South Africa, especially in economy. It's a good chance for them to develop and 2.3% is really a big increase.

    ReplyDelete