SA records R4.9bn trade deficit

According to SARS, the deficit is due to a 17% decrease in exports and an increase of 14% in imports.

"Exports for January 2011 of R44.8 billion and imports of R49.7 billion resulted in a deficit of R4.9 billion," said the Revenue Service.

The trade deficit for January 2011 was buoyed by higher commodity imports, specifically in machinery and electrical appliances, original equipment components and products of the chemicals or allied industries.

The cumulative deficit for January 2011 is R4.9 billion, compared to R3.4 billion in 2010, a decline of R1.5 billion or 45.3%.

Nedbank economists said the outlook for exports remains uncertain, seeing that the positive impact of higher commodity prices is likely to be countered by global economic recovery that is still hesitant.

"Imports on the other hand are likely to benefit from improving consumer demand and rising imports of capital equipment on the back of the government's infrastructure spending programme. We expect the current account deficit to widen slightly in 2011 after narrowing significantly in 2010 (close to 2.7% of GDP)," said Nedbank.