South Africa avoids recession, growing 0.6% in the second … – Boursorama

South Africa avoids recession, growing 0.6% in the second … – Boursorama

The South African economy narrowly escaped recession in the second quarter 2014: here Nkaneng slum near the mining town of Marikana August 16, 2012, closed for weeks due to continued strike (AFP / File / Odd Andersen)

The South’s economy -africaine, the most industrialized of the continent, has narrowly escaped recession in the second quarter, growing by 0.6% after a dip in activity in the first quarter, said Tuesday the national statistics agency.

South Africa down growth for three years, was released only in late June a historic strike that crippled the world’s top three producers of platinum for five months and weighed heavily on the national activity.

The economy of a country is considered to be in recession after two consecutive quarters of slowing.

The rebound in the second quarter compared with the first was made possible by a growth in business administration-related legislation in May. The transport, storage and telecommunications have also made a positive contribution to the economy, according Statsaa.

In contrast, the arm wage unprecedented iron in the platinum mines caused a further contraction of the mining activity, affecting the way the entire manufacturing sector, detailed StatsSA.

“There are not as platinum, but it also had a poor performance in mines gold. Any mining in general also very bad market, “said at a press briefing Gerhardt Bouwer, a statistical responsible.

” It’s a combination of all industries ” has he said.

In annual terms, growth slowed to 1% from the second quarter of 2013, said the South African statistical agency, while the central bank and the Most economists continue to revise downward their forecasts for 2014 and 2015.

The central bank this year has more than a 1.7% growth against 2.1% previously expected ( and 2.8% at the beginning of the year).

These figures are much lower than those of the rest of the region, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling for an increase of 5.4% for sub-Saharan Africa, and totally insufficient to significantly reduce high unemployment and create jobs in a country in population growth.

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