Stats SA said that the finance, mining and trade sectors were the main drivers on the production side of the economy, while household spending and changes in inventories helped spur growth on the demand side.
The agency faced backlash for continuing with the annualised rates since the second quarter of 2020 when the data showed the GDP had contracted in half following the initial hard lockdown.
Stats SA said that eight industries contributed to the 1.5% economic growth rate and 6.3% annualised GDP increase.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said that it would take time for the country to get back to pre-pandemic output levels.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has promised to fast-track reforms to raise economic growth potential, but some investors are becoming restless about the pace of change.
On Thursday, the Reserve Bank governor announced that the repo rate was being lowered by 25 basis points.
Ratings agency Fitch said the country had a poor track record of delivering debt and spending cuts.
The RMB business confidence index was at 5 points for the second quarter, the lowest level since the first survey in 1975 and down from 18 points for the first quarter.
South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) has expectedly contracted by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019, pushing the country into a technical recession, Statistics SA announced on Tuesday. This is the second consecutive drop after the economy failed to show any signs of positive growth in the quarter before, making it a technical recession. A full recession refers to two quarters of recession, combined with a year-on-year decline GDP.
Dr Jack & Curtis.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the underlying weakness in South Africa's economy could be further aggravated by global economic uncertainty amid the spread of the coronavirus.
The recession is another setback for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive the economy and stave off a downgrade of the country’s sovereign debt to below investment grade by rating agency Moody’s.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the poor growth figures released today were not pleasing, but said that the signs that the economy was struggling were evident for some time.
Deputy President Davi Mabuza's comments about Eskom failing the economy come shortly after Stats SA released figures effectively placing the country in a technical recession.
It said the country's economy slipped into a technical recession in the fourth quarter of last year, recording a 1.4% contraction.
It's revised this year's forecast to 0.7% and 0.9% for next year and said it had a number of concerns.
The country continues to be hit by load shedding with businesses complaining about lost productivity.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Union Buildings in Pretoria for her official visit.
