Foreign Funds Rescuing Banks

MANUFACTURING activity slumped last month as power blackouts hit output, suggesting a grim outlook for the economy's second-biggest sector and justifying fears that the electricity crisis will prompt a sharp slowdown in growth this year.

Expectations for business in the next six months hit a record low as new sales orders fell and manufacturing inventories dived to their weakest levels in two years, the Investec purchasing managers index (PMI) showed.

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