SOUTH AFRICA’S trade deficit widened by more than R10bn in October to R14.733bn, the largest ever monthly deficit on record. This follows a narrowing of the deficit to R4.3bn in September, according to the Standard Bank’s Shireen Darmalingam. The massive deficit is a direct result of a 27.42% monthly increase in imports, which reached a new record level of R56.264bn in October from R44.155bn in September, she said. “No reprieve was offered by exports which only mustered a 4.33% monthly increase in October to R41.531bn from R39.808bn in September. At the risk of sounding repetitive, Standard Bank believes that imports signal a strong domestic growth dynamic,” she said.
