An Economist at Econometrix, Laura Campbell says while South Africa’s growth exceeded expectations in the first quarter, the impact of rolling blackouts (loadshedding) and the KwaZulu-Natal floods are expected to be a drag on growth in the second quarter of the year.
President Ramaphosa confident of Eskom’s ability to keep the lights on:
This after data by Statistics South Africa indicated that South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.9% in the first quarter of 2022.
The biggest contribution to the increase in the first quarter came from the manufacturing sectors…
“We also have factors that weigh on economic growth and those factors include the structural impediments to economic growth domestically, we saw intense rolling blackouts in the period and interest rates are all likely to weigh on improvement in GDP in Q1.
Looking further ahead, unfortunately South Africa was hit by another external force, the KZN flooding, and that will weigh on q2 GDP and 2022 growth as a whole.”)
![[File Image] Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago addresses the media.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Lesetja-Kganyago-GCIS-120x86.jpg)
