In early October we reported on the alarming state of SA's trade deficit, saying that as the export of minerals such as coal and iron-ore declined while oil imports rose, so the country's trade deficit widened. Good news, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) reports that SA's trade deficit has dropped dramatically.
According to SARS, the trade deficit fell to R890 million in September, down from a R10.14 billion deficit in August. The cumulative deficit for 2015 is thus R37.35 billion, compared to R73.37 billion in 2014.
- Read our previous article on SA's trade deficit here.
The bettered figure was bolstered by trade data in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, and also thanks to total exports of R92.28 billion and imports of R93.17 billion. From August to September 2015, exports increased by 5.6% (R4.86 billion), while imports decreased by 4.5% (R4.39 billion).
According to SARS, this August's trade balance deficit was revised upwards by R0.19 billion from the previous month's preliminary deficit of R9.95 billion, to a revised deficit of R10.14 billion.
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