South Africa’s trade surplus and current account deficit widened in the second quarter of 2017 according to a statement released by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).
The current account deficit widened from R91 billion in the first quarter to R110 billion in the second, representing a 24% ration of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), while SA’s trade surplus widened from R57.4 billion in Q1 to R64.6 billion in Q2 this year.
“The larger trade surplus resulted from a slightly faster pace of increase in the value of exported gold and merchandise goods than that of merchandise imports,” said an SARB spokesperson, adding that this marked the third consecutive quarterly trade surplus.
Additionally, the value of merchandise and mining and manufacturing exports had increased in the second quarter, buoyed by higher values of exported base metals as well as platinum group metals.
