Current account deficit narrows

[LancelotSA]

I have not seen this posted on here so I thought I'd share it.

South Africa's current account deficit has narrowed, the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) said in its Quarterly Bulletin for March 2010 released on Tuesday.

The deficit on the current account of the balance of payments narrowed steadily from 6.7 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2009 to 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter.

On a calendar year basis, the deficit on the current account relative to South Africa's gross domestic product narrowed from 7.1 percent in 2008 to 4.0 percent in 2009.

The SARB said the narrowing of the current account deficit in 2009 could mainly be attributed to an increase in international trade volumes and a concomitant stronger rise in the value of merchandise goods exported from South Africa.


South Africa's trade surplus with the rest of the world consequently widened from R22.3 billion in the third quarter of 2009 to R24.9 billion in the fourth quarter.

For the year as a whole, the trade balance changed from a deficit of R35.6 billion recorded in 2008 to a surplus of R2.3 billion in 2009. - Sapa

 

[Jola]

Hmmm, they seem to have missed my eBay purchases ...

Still, a good improvement, long may it continue !

 

[psichron]

You too can do your part. Torrenting helps decrease the deficit.

 

[boramk]

That's really good, especially considering how much our has appreciated

 

[LancelotSA]

You too can do your part. Torrenting helps decrease the deficit.

Torrenting also keeps your rands from circulating back into the system.... well the portion of your rands relating to the difference between your ADSL costs and the cost of purchasing those illegally acquired goods in a shop..... and of course it would also depend on whether those goods you are illegally acquiring are produced locally or overseas!

I have never, and will never, download music from a local artist online. That's just me....

 

[psichron]

That's ok, government will force your rands back into circulation, you won't have a choice

 

[Voltorr]

You too can do your part. Torrenting helps decrease the deficit.

lol, I've never heard it put quite like that

 

[Hosehead]

Since the whole world is reporting a miracle recovery and increased employment and increased consumer spending - they are all using Statistics South Africa as their source. My question just how reliable is SSA?
Look at the Wall Street Journal's headline

Employment, Spending, Up in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG—South African employment picked up in the final three months of last year, while the country's current account deficit narrowed further to a four-and-a-half-year low as trade volume grew along with the recovery in world economies, data released Tuesday showed.

Nonfarm employment in Africa's biggest economy edged up 0.2% on the quarter in the final three months of the year to slightly more than 8.16 million, figures from

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...5139623219342884.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

 

[Mila]

Who of you is going to get a raise this year?

I'll lose out again.