Economist Dawie Roodt has warned that the South African economy will remain uncertain for the foreseeable future.
This after the country’s recession deepened in the first quarter of 2020.
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The South African economy recorded its third consecutive quarter of economic decline, falling by 2,0% in Q1:2020.#StatsSA #GDP #economy pic.twitter.com/ahJRFtCkTF— Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 30, 2020
Official data released on Tuesday, showed that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 2% from the previous three months, led by declines in mining and manufacturing.
The economy was already frail before the coronavirus pandemic hit South Africa in March, with January-March being the third consecutive quarter of contraction and following a 1.4% decline in GDP in October-December.
The latest data nevertheless beat analysts’ expectations for a contraction of 3.8 in the first quarter.
Below is the full report from StatsSA:
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 1st Quarter 2020 (Text)
Roodt blames government for not putting relevant policies in place.
“The private sector has been affected by things such as the lockdown and a lack of electricity and a very inefficient state. Yes, there’s more than one player in the economy but I have very little doubt that if they want to blame somebody for the problems that we are experiencing, it must be government for the wrong policies,” explains Roodt.
In the video below, Economist Dawie Roodt explains why he blames government policies for regressing GDP:
