SA records R2.5bn trade deficit

Cape Town – Southern Africa recorded a trade deficit of R2.51bn in April, data released on Friday showed.

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) statistics include trade data of South Africa, as well as Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).

The R2.51bn deficit for April 2015 was due to exports of R84.01bn and imports of R86.53bn, Sars data showed.

Exports decreased from March 2015 to April 2015 by R6.84bn (7.5%) and imports decreased by R4.34bn (4.8%).

The cumulative deficit for 2015 is R35.83bn compared to R39.82bn in 2014, said Sars.

The trade data for South Africa, excluding BLNS, for April 2015 recorded a trade deficit of R11.11bn.

This was due to exports of R73.26bn and imports of R84.37bn. Exports decreased from March 2015 to April 2015 by R5.75bn (7.3%) and imports decreased by R3.70bn (4.2%), Sars showed.

The cumulative deficit for 2015 was R68.94bn compared to R72.42bn in 2014.