SA economy out of recession

Gross domestic product grows 2.5% in second quarter.

The South African economy is out of recession at the moment, owing to a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2.5% in the second quarter of 2017, StatsSA announced yesterday.

“Let’s go straight into the numbers … the GDP quarter-on-quarter [growth rate] is 2.5%. I saw that analysts in the media were betting on 2.3, so it means they tripped by 0.2 percentage points. Year-on-year [the growth rate] is 1.1%. We should always keep these numbers in mind so that we have a better understanding of changes that occur,” statistician-general Pali Lehohla, pictured, said at a briefing on the GDP estimates for the second quarter of 2017.

“On the growth rate, historically we were flat at 5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013. We had two quarters which put us in a technical recession – which we are now out of with this quarter.”

Lehohla attributed the growth to primary industries – agriculture and mining. He said the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry “went almost through the roof” with growth of 33.6%, while mining grew 3.9%.

Increased production of field crops and horticultural products contributed to the rise in agriculture. The sector contributed 0.7 percentage points to the GDP growth.

For the mining sector, increased production was reported for coal, gold and other metal ores, particularly manganese ore and iron ore. The mining and quarrying industry increased by 3.9% and contributed 0.3 of a percentage point to the GDP growth.

Finance, real estate and business services increased by 2.5% and contributed 0.5 of a percentage point to the GDP growth.

Nigeria has also exited recession, notching up economic growth of 0.6% official data showed yesterday.

Nigeria’s economy returned to growth after five consecutive quarters of contractionaccording to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The country which depends on oil for 70% of state revenues and 90% of export earnings has been battered by lower crude prices since mid-2014.

These have slashed government revenues, weakened the currency and caused dollar shortages, frustrating business and households. – ANA and AFP