Dr Daan Steenkamp on forecasting GDP: why trucks matter in SA

In our second podcast with Dr Daan Steenkamp, a lead economist at the South African Reserve Bank, we delve further into how nowcasting works and discuss the latest research regarding the suite of models used to forecast GDP. By using the traffic flows to determine the impact of the lockdown on our economy, the nowcasting team at the reserve bank have developed an indicator, the Truck-o-meter, which provides a very useful signal of economic activity. If you are interested in the technicalities behind developing a ‘fast indicator’ for nowcasting, this podcast is for you. Daan has a way of breaking […]