South Africa’s current-account unexpectedly swung to a deficit in the second quarter as imports outweighed exports and companies paid higher dividends.
The balance on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, switched to an annualized deficit of 1.3% of gross domestic product, or R87-billion, from a revised 2.4% surplus in the previous quarter, the South African Reserve Bank said in a report on Thursday. Only one of 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast a deficit to GDP.
The deficit was “largely due to higher dividend payments by companies with a direct investment relationship,” the bank said. “Direct investment relationship refers to entities where a single foreign direct investor owns 10% or more of the voting rights in that entity.”
The quarterly deficit is the first since the second quarter of 2020, the central bank said.
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