South Africa exported more than it imported in the first quarter, thanks to a rise in the value of exports, the Reserve Bank said. Pictured is Sarb governor, Lesetja Kganyago
Image: SARB/Facebook
South Africa exported more than it imported during the first quarter of the year, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said, citing the fact that the value of goods exported had increased in rand terms.
The local currency has been worth between just under R19 to the dollar at the start of the year to sticking below the key R18 to the greenback level since the middle of last month.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the central bank said that South Africa’s trade surplus narrowed slightly by R5.2 billion as the value of merchandise imports increased more than that of goods exports. The increase in the value of imports and exports of goods and services in the first quarter of 2025 reflected both higher volumes and prices, the central bank explained.
The central bank added that, as a result of the trade surplus, the deficit in the current account narrowed by R3.7 billion quarter-on-quarter on the back of the increase in exports of goods, services, investment income, and items such as foreign aid.
The current account deficit as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) remained broadly the same at 0.5% from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.
South Africa’s current account as a percentage of GDP was last in positive territory in the third quarter of 2023, according to historical data provided by SARB, which is based on Statistics South Africa data.
At the same time, the shortfall on the services, income and current transfer account narrowed from R265.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 to R256.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
This stemmed from smaller deficits on the services and income accounts, which outweighed the wider deficit on the current transfer account, it said. As a result, the overall deficit on the services, income and current transfer account as a percentage of GDP narrowed from 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 3.5% in the first quarter of 2025.
IOL