Trade deficit |

South Africa Current-Account Gap Widens as Customs Payouts Rise

JOHANNNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s current-account deficit widened in the second quarter as the amount paid to the nation’s customs union partners increased. The shortfall on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, increased to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product in the three months through June from a revised 2 percent in the previous quarter, the Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin released on Thursday in the…

South Africa Posts Third Straight Monthly Trade Surplus in April

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa recorded a surplus on its trade account for a third straight month in April as imports of equipment components decreased. The 5.1 billion-rand ($388 million) surplus with March’s revised 11.3 billion-rand surplus, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in an emailed statement Wednesday. The median of four economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 7.4 billion rand. A smaller trade gap eases pressure on the current account,…