* Current account deficit balloons to 6.4 pct of GDP
* Rand weakens slightly
* Mining unrest may hit Q3 GDP – central bank
By Xola Potelwa
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 11 (Reuters) – South Africa’s current
account recorded its largest deficit in nearly four years in the
second quarter of 2012 as exports fell because of subdued
external demand, with investment inflows from yield hungry
foreign investors offering the only relief.
The central bank also said violent unrest in the mining
sector, in particular fallout from the police shooting of 34
striking miners at a platinum mine last month, might cause
economic growth to slump in the third quarter.
In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, reporting on the second
quarter, the bank said the current account gap widened to 200
billion rand or 6.4 percent of GDP from 4.9 percent in the first
quarter, while spending on government wages pushed gross
domestic expenditure to 4.7 percent.
“With South Africa’s terms of trade also registering a
modest further deterioration, the deficit on the current account
widened to 6.4 percent of GDP,” the central bank report said.
Economists had expected a deficit of only 4.7 percent
because of increased portfolio inflows into emerging markets,
and South Africa specifically.
Continued…
