The South
African economy on Tuesday contracted into a technical recession, Bloomberg has
reported.
Latest economic data by the
country’s statistics agency showed second quarter gross domestic product (GDP)
declined by about -0.7 per cent, driven by the poor performance in key sectors,
including agriculture, transport and retail businesses.
It is the first time since 2009
that the South African economy, the second largest in Africa after Nigeria,
will be going into recession.
This is coming barely six months
since the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, took over power. Since assuming
office, Mr Ramaphosa has been struggling with pulling the economy from the
precipice after more than a decade of decline.
“We are in a recession. We
reported a contraction in the first quarter … and now in the second quarter
with a fall of 0.7 percent,” Reuters News quoted South Africa’s
Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke as saying following the latest economic
indices were published.
The country’s statistics agency
said productivity from the agricultural sector plunged 29.2 per cent in the
second quarter, while the transport, communication and storage sector also
dropped 4.9 per cent. Mining sector recorded a growth of 4.9 per cent and
finance by 1.9 per cent.
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