South Africa’s Current Account Deficit Narrows

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s current account deficit narrowed in the second quarter to 0.9% of GDP from 1.5% in the first quarter, according to central bank data released on Thursday.

In rand terms, the deficit decreased to 64.6 billion rand ($3.62 billion) in April-June, down from 106.9 billion rand in the previous three months.

The trade surplus also widened to 187.4 billion rand in the second quarter, compared to 165.8 billion rand in the first quarter.

According to the South African Reserve Bank, “The increase in the value of exports of goods and services in the second quarter of 2024 reflected higher prices while the increase in imports of goods and services reflected both higher volumes and prices.”

South Africa’s economy grew by 0.4% in the second quarter, as reported by the statistics agency on Tuesday. This growth was supported by higher consumer spending and improved power supply, although declines in agriculture, mining and transport sectors led to slightly weaker overall growth than expected.

(Note: $1 = 17.8493 rand)