South Africa’s economy grew by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2018, Stats SA announced on Tuesday morning.
The figure of 1.4% was slightly above the consensus estimates of most analysts and economists of 1.2% growth.
This means that annual real GDP increased by a tepid 0.8% in 2018. This was 0.1% more than the projections of most economists.
South Africa’s economy fell into a technical recession in the first half of 2018, after experiencing two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. The economy declined by 2.6% in the first quarter and by a further restated 0.4% in the second.
Growth rebounded in the third quarter to 2.2% as the country exited the recession. This has now been restated as 2.6%.
The rand strengthened slightly on the news. It was trading at R14.12/$ at 11:47 on Tuesday, up 0.7% on the day.
Source: Fin24
