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May 24 2012 17:31
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, and a sizeable reduction in the local petrol price is expected, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 24 2012 15:29
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 24 2012 12:00
Britain fell deeper into recession than initially thought in the first quarter of 2012, upping chances that the central bank could inject more stimulus into the economy.
Johannesburg - South Africa recorded a trade deficit of R1.981bn for its trade with non-Southern African Customs Union trading partners in August after the R446.758m surplus of July, according to Customs & Excise figures released on Wednesday.
A R500m surplus was expected, a survey by I-Net Bridge had found, with forecasts varying from a R2bn deficit to a R1bn surplus.
A record R17.380bn deficit was struck in January this year from a previous worst in October 2007 of R14.7bn, but South Africa achieved its first trade surplus since 2006 of R2.020bn in May and then followed up with surprise surpluses in June and July.
The data reflected a large decrease of R1.764bn in exports of mineral products, while vegetable product exports dropped by 30% on the month, or R809m. Vehicle, aircraft and vessel exports fell by 21%, or R708m.
Imports of vehicles, aircraft and vessels decreased by 32%, or R1.454bn, while mineral product imports increased by R342m.
- I-Net Bridge