South Africa Current Account Swings to Surplus for the First Time Since 2003

By Xavier Fontdegloria

South Africa's current account switched to a surplus for the first time since the first quarter of 2003 as the trade surplus more than doubled, the country's central bank said Thursday.

The current account swung to a surplus of ZAR69.7 billion ($4.09 billion) in the first quarter, from the ZAR68.1 billion deficit registered in the fourth quarter of 2019.

South Africa's current account as a ratio of gross domestic product changed from minus 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 1.3% in the first quarter of 2020.

South Africa's trade surplus more than doubled from ZAR102.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 to ZAR208.0 billion in the first quarter of 2020, as exports increased and imports decreased, the South African Reserve Bank said.

The shortfall on the services, income and current transfer account narrowed substantially further to ZAR138.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020 from ZAR170.6 billion the previous quarter. The deficits of all three sub-accounts narrowed in the first quarter, with the income account contributing the most.

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