Publications
Partners
Cape Town - BankservAfrica's Economic Transaction Index (Beti) shows encouraging signs that the economy is stabilising, the electronic payment transaction company said on Thursday.
BankservAfrica regulated products CEO Brad Gillis said the value of Beti transactions in the past 12 months totalled R7.7trn, a 6.3% increase on the previous 12 months.
The economy seemed to be growing at a normal pace every two months and at a stagnation rate every other month.
February, April and June showed normal growth, equivalent to around 3.0% to 3.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). January and March indicated much slower growth rates, while May showed a small slowdown from a very strong April.
Chief economist for economists.co.za, Mike Schussler, said a return to "normal" economic growth should be cause for celebration after recent labour upheavals and the weakening of the rand.
"While the South African economy continues to grow at a slower pace than we want it to, the fact remains that June 2013 was the 46th month of an upswing, making this the second longest business cycle upswing in the country's history," he said.
Schussler said the Beti did not imply that the country was in a boom phase but rather back to a steady, albeit slow growth period, with the normal average growth rate pegged at 3.4%.
The return to normal growth was further evidenced by the 3.3% increase in new car sales. The total vehicle sales, seasonally adjusted, was up by 4.4% for June.
The Kagiso Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) also increased by 1.2 points in June to 51.6.
"Along with the February data, we feel that four of the last six months have shown relative robust and more normal growth than most of last year," Schussler said.
"With electricity distribution showing growth for two months in a row in May 2013 after 13 months of decline, it is clear that more than one set of indicators are showing a more positive trend than most of last year."
