First the bad news on the corporate front.
According to the South African Reserve Bank’s (Sarb’s) latest Financial Stability Review (FSR), every major industry in South Africa reported a rise in corporate debt defaults in 2020. This comes as no surprise, given the unprecedented business challenges that the pandemic has presented and 2020’s 7% contraction in gross domestic product (GDP).
Still, the situation is not dire.
“Corporate defaults increased in 2020, but remain well below the levels seen following the global financial crisis. The sector’s default ratio jumped from 2% at the end of 2019 to 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2020. Encouragingly, the default ratio remains well contained by historical standards (it peaked at 4.1% after the global financial crisis) and the rate of increase slowed significantly in the fourth quarter of 2020,” the FSR noted.
Even small communities in Minnesota are not immune. 5:00 am, May 23, 2021 ×
Aimee Jambor shares information about sex trafficking with a crowd at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Backus.Travis Grimler / Echo Journal (April 2021)
Human sex trafficking is a growing concern across the country. While population size is a contributing factor, even small communities in Minnesota are not immune, as shown by a presentation at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Backus.
Aimee Jambor, who worked in alternative education in Brainerd, gave the presentation Tuesday, April 27. She presented information from Kate LePage, Central Minnesota Regional Navigator with Lutheran Social Services, state funded studies as well as personal experiences as a school and parish nurse and in alternative education.