South Africa’s trade account swung back into surplus in June, partly boosted by a backlog of exports resulting from a transport strike the previous month, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) said on Friday.
Sars said the June trade balance stood at R5,6-billion from a shortfall of R302-million in May.
This was as a result of exports recording a 17,8% increase to R55,6-billion compared with a 5,2% rise to R49,9-billion imports.
The June trade figure marks the second month of surplus since the start of the year.
Analysts said the number was bolstered by a backlog in exports after a labour strike hampered South Africa’s rails and ports in May.
“It looks like a very strong number. It appears that … the transport strike may have something to do with this. One waits to see if this is sustained through the July data, given that we did not have a transport strike at that time,” said George Glynos, an economist at ETM said.
Standard Chartered head of research for Africa Razia Khan said the June surplus was a reflection that South Africa’s economy is still struggling after last year’s recession, with imports of capital goods still depressed.
“While the rand will benefit from this news, it is interesting that it still speaks of considerable weakness in the South African economy … While the recovery in the rest of the world helped, South Africa’s own recovery looks a little less certain,” said Khan.
Sars said the cumulative deficit for the year to date was R7,8-billion compared with a R17,8-billion shortfall at the same time last year. — Reuters