South African Economy Expands 0.6%

(RTTNews) - The South African economy expanded more-than-expected in the second quarter, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday.

In real terms, gross domestic product advanced 0.6 percent sequentially, faster than the 0.4 percent rise in the first quarter. Meanwhile, economists had expected the growth to ease to 0.1 percent.

Further, this was the second consecutive quarterly expansion.

Six industries recorded positive growth compared to the previous quarter. The manufacturing sector grew by 2.2 percent, and the finance industry showed an increase of 0.7 percent.

On the expenditure side, household final consumption decreased 0.3 percent, while government consumption was 1.7 percent higher in comparison with the previous quarter.

Gross fixed capital formation increased 3.9 percent, while net exports contributed negatively by 0.8 percent as imports grew faster than exports.

On a yearly basis, GDP growth accelerated to 1.6 percent in the second quarter from 0.2 percent in the preceding three-month period. The expected growth rate was 1.1 percent.