THE gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the second quarter of 2016 put to rest concerns about the country plunging into a technical recession when the economic growth surged by 3.3%.
The positive GDP figures bode well for the country because in the first quarter‚ the economy plunged by 1.2%‚ risking a downgrade by international rating agencies.
According to the GDP numbers released by Statistics SA in Pretoria on Tuesday‚ manufacturing and mining were the largest positive contributors to the GDP growth.
Manufacturing grew by 8.1%‚ contributing 1 percentage point to the GDP growth.
“Mining and quarrying recovered in the second quarter‚ increasing by 11.8% and contributing 0.8 of a percentage point of the GDP‚” read the Statistics SA report.
However‚ Stats SA figures showed that agriculture‚ fishing and forestry and electricity were the only two industries that contracted in the second quarter.
As the rand has been weak compared to hard currencies‚ exports increased by 18.1% while imports fell by 5.1%.
Net export contributed 6.7% percentage points to the total growth.
Manufacturing‚ mining largest contributors to second-quarter GDP growth
THE gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the second quarter of 2016 put to rest concerns about the country plunging into a technical recession when the economic growth surged by 3.3%.
The positive GDP figures bode well for the country because in the first quarter‚ the economy plunged by 1.2%‚ risking a downgrade by international rating agencies.
According to the GDP numbers released by Statistics SA in Pretoria on Tuesday‚ manufacturing and mining were the largest positive contributors to the GDP growth.
Manufacturing grew by 8.1%‚ contributing 1 percentage point to the GDP growth.
“Mining and quarrying recovered in the second quarter‚ increasing by 11.8% and contributing 0.8 of a percentage point of the GDP‚” read the Statistics SA report.
However‚ Stats SA figures showed that agriculture‚ fishing and forestry and electricity were the only two industries that contracted in the second quarter.
As the rand has been weak compared to hard currencies‚ exports increased by 18.1% while imports fell by 5.1%.
Net export contributed 6.7% percentage points to the total growth.
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