Interest rate cuts outweigh impact of strong rand

Pleasing GDP growth ALAN PEAT PLEASING GROSS domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.6% is the news from Stats SA for the third quarter. This after the GDP numbers were revised, rebased and rebenchmarked - making the year 2000 the new base year. Said Standard Bank economist, Dr Johan Botha: “The agricultural sector showed the highest quarterly growth followed by construction, transport and communication, and manufacturing. “After a somewhat disappointing 2003, the 2004 quarterly numbers released by Stats SA indicated that growth was starting to accelerate. These numbers were helped along by the rebasing, revising and rebenchmarking exercise conducted by Stats SA every five years. “The upward trend in growth continued very strongly in Q3 of the year, indicating that the impact of interest rate cuts handsomely outweighed the relatively weak global economy and the strong rand that made it difficult to compete internationally."