South Africa’s trade balance improved in February but remained in deficit, while credit growth surged and petrol prices are to jump, backing the case for the central bank to resume raising interest rates. South Africa’s current account gap has weighed heavily on the economy and currency over the past year, partly due to huge oil imports, robust consumer spending and a penchant for luxury imports.

South Africa’s Reserve Bank has for some time raised the alarm about the inflationary risks posed by a boom in credit. But some analysts say increasing borrowing by businesses may bode well for the economy and may even help the country tackle its huge unemployment rate, provided the money is ploughed into much-needed investment in local industries.

Growth in credit demand by South Africa’s private sector slowed to 26,77% in the year to November, but was close to October’s record 27,24%, adding to risks of a further interest rate hike. During the same period the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply grew by 25,33%, from 23,51% in October, central bank data showed on Friday.

South African banks have drawn nearly two million poor people into the banking net in the past two years but most of them remain financially illiterate and still prefer informal saving vehicles, a new study shows. The survey, released on Tuesday by research group FinMark Trust, found that since October 2004, 1,9-million people opened a low-cost bank account.