Trade balance takes a turn for the worse

ALAN PEAT IN THE preliminary trade statistics for January just released by SA Revenue Service (SARS) the trade balance was revealed to have taken a turn for the worse. Exports decreased from December by 28.63%, while imports also dropped, but by a lesser 7.77%. The stats showed January exports at R20.5-billion, or down by R8.2-bn on the December total of just under R28.7-bn while imports were R23.8-bn, or down by R2-bn on December’s R25.8-bn. The result of the figures was that December’s trade surplus of just under R2.9-bn was totally reversed – and moved to a trade deficit of slightly less than R3.3-bn in January.