South Africa’s current-account deficit continued to shrink in the third quarter of 2006 from 5,7% of the gross domestic product in the second quarter to 5,2%, the South African Reserve Bank said in its quarterly bulletin released on Friday.
In value terms, the balance shrank to R90,4-billion in the third quarter compared with R95,3-billion in the second quarter.
Real final consumption expenditure by households increased at a slower rate, with an annualised rate of 7,25% in the third quarter compared with 7,75% in the second quarter.
”Despite the slower growth posted in the third quarter of 2006, the growth in real expenditure by households amounted to 7% in the first nine months of the year compared with the corresponding period in 2005, which is substantially higher than the growth rate of 6,5% registered for 2005 as a whole,” the report stated.
Growth in total loans and advances extended to the private sector remained strong despite the 1,5%, in total, repo rate hike over the past few months.
It increased to 28,6% in the third quarter, up from 25,5% in the second quarter.
In total, loans shot up from R42,2-billion to R90,1-billion. — Sapa