Pretoria - The shortfall on South Africa's current account widened more than expected to 6.2% of gross domestic product in the second quarter of the year from a shortfall of 4.5% previously, as the economy was hit by prolonged strikes and lower global demand, the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) said on Tuesday.
Economists had expected a 5.45% gap.
In its latest quarterly bulletin, Sarb said declining commodity prices also severely dented the country's export performance in the quarter.
Having increased for five consecutive periods, exports, excluding gold, fell in the second quarter, largely due to lower output in the platinum sector where workers went on strike to press for higher wages from January to June.
"In addition to lower supply, export volumes were also weighed down by lower demand from trading partner countries in Asia, more in particular China, India, Thailand and Malaysia," Sarb said.
Shortly after Sarb released this information, the rand slipped 1.64% to R10.88