Sudafrica - Conto Corrente

South Africa's current account deficit rose to ZAR 204.1 billion in the second quarter of 2019 from an upwardly revised ZAR 143.5 billion in the previous period and compared with market expectations of a ZAR 134.5 billion shortfall. This was the largest current account gap since the first quarter of 2018, as the goods trade balance switched to a ZAR 27 billion deficit from a ZAR 42 billion surplus in Q1. Meanwhile, the shortfall on services, income and current transfer payments decreased slightly to ZAR 177 billion from ZAR 185 billion, due to smaller deficits on the income and current transfer accounts, which partially countered a slightly larger deficit on the services account. As a ratio of GDP, the current account deficit deteriorated to 4.0 percent in the second quarter of 2019 from 2.9 percent in the first quarter.

The current account deficit in South Africa rose to ZAR 142.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019 from ZAR 110.2 billion in the previous period and compared with market expectations of a ZAR 154.5 billion shortfall. It is equivalent to 2.9 percent of the GDP, and means a deterioration compared to 2.2 percent in Q4 2018. The goods surplus narrowed to ZAR 43.0 billion from ZAR 71.8 billion in Q4 2018; and the services shortfall rose only slightly to ZAR 12 billion from ZAR 11 billion in the previous quarter. Meantime, the primary income gap narrowed a bit to ZAR 137 billion from ZAR 138 billion; and the secondary income deficit went up to ZAR 36 billion from ZAR 33 billion in Q4 2018.

The current account deficit in South Africa narrowed to ZAR 110.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018 from an upwardly revised ZAR 180.4 billion in the previous period and compared with market expectations of a ZAR 162.5 billion shortfall. It is the equivalent to 2.2 percent of the GDP, compared to 3.7 percent in the prior quarter. The goods and services balance shifted to a ZAR 61 billion surplus from ZAR 1 billion gap in the third quarter of the year. Also, the primary income deficit declined to ZAR 138 billion from ZAR 150 billion. Meanwhile, the secondary income gap increased slightly to ZAR 33 billion from ZAR 30 billion. In 2018, the current account shortfall widened to ZAR 173 billion from ZAR 118 billion in 2017. It is the equivalent to 3.5 percent of the GDP in 2018, compared to 2.5 percent in 2017.