adminSOUTH Africa’s current-account deficit widened to the most in nine months in the second quarter as prolonged strikes curbed exports. The gap on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, expanded to 6.2 percent of gross domestic product from 4.5 percent in the previous three months, the Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin released today in the capital, Pretoria. The median estimate of 17 economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a deficit of 5.5 percent. The shortfall reached an annualised 222 billion rand ($20.5 billion) in the period.
The increase in the deficit was driven by a 4.4 percent drop in merchandise export volumes, which led to a widening of the trade gap to 101 billion rand from 75 billion rand. – Bloomberg.
derick.khumalo