Non-Stats SA data will dominate this week

NON-STATISTICS South Africa (StatsSA) data releases will dominate the calendar this week as the only StatsSA releases due are the capacity utilisation rate of large manufacturers in February and the March electricity production and consumption data due on Thursday.

The week starts off with the SA Reserve Bank data on money supply, which will show whether the jump in consumer confidence to a record high in the first quarter has resulted in an increased appetite for credit. The return of new vehicle sales to positive year-on-year changes in March after three consecutive months of declines seem to indicate that consumers are willing to take on more debt.

Broad M3 money supply growth rose to 6.89 percent year-on-year in February from 5.83 percent in January and 6.42 percent in December, while narrow money supply growth eased to 5.69 percent year-onyear from 7.11 percent and 6.83 percent.

Economic activity seems to be fuelled more by cash than credit as total loans and advances year-on-year change dipped to the lowest since 2009. It was 3.83 percent in January from 5.18 percent in December, but then recovered to 4.4 percent in February and a move above 5 percent is expected for March.

The next major data point is foreign trade from the SA Revenue Service, which will be released today. On the same day, the Treasury will release the detailed government spending and income data for the year ended March 2018.