South Africa Trade Surplus Widens in November as Imports Fall

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa’s trade surplus widened in November as the value of imports of equipment components and chemical products decreased.

The 6.1 billion-rand ($435 million) positive balance compares with a revised 2.75 billion-rand surplus in October, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said Friday in a statement on its website. The median estimate of four economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a surplus of 12.2 billion rand.

Key Insights

• The surplus may bode well for the current account, which is the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, and the rand. The deficit on the current account hasn’t dipped below 2% of gross domestic product since the end of 2016 and has been a key risk to the economy for years. The country also runs a fiscal deficit, which is forecast to widen to an 11-year high as the government props up the cash-strapped power utility, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.
• The trade account has a positive balance of 10.54 billion rand for the first 11 months of 2019, compared with a deficit of 1.24 billion rand for the same period last year, the revenue authority said.
• Total export value decreased 5% from a month earlier owing to a decline in mineral products and vehicle and transport equipment.
• Imports fell 8% as the value of the inward shipment of equipment components and chemical products declined.

To contact the reporter on this story: Prinesha Naidoo in Johannesburg at pnaidoo7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline Mackenzie, John Bowker

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