Trade deficit widens

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.