South Africa recorded the biggest trade surplus since at least 1996 in May as imports of machinery and oil fell and the exports of precious metals and stones surged.
The trade surplus widened to 18.7 billion rand ($1.26 billion) from a revised deficit of 130 million rand in April, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in a statement on Thursday.
The median of 10 economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 4.1 billion rand.
“Africa’s most-industrialized economy”
South Africa contracted 1.2 percent in the first quarter as falling metal prices, the worst drought in more than a century and weak demand from the nation’s main export markets weigh on output, even as the rand lost 22 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of 2015.
The deficit on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, widened to 5 percent in the three months through March, keeping some pressure on the currency.
“From a short-term perspective the evidence of re-balancing in the economy would be supportive of the currency,” Carmen Nel, an economist at FirstRand Ltd.’s investment banking unit, said by phone from Cape Town before the release of the data.
“Trade”
Exports rose by 14 percent to 104.7 billion rand and imports slumped by 6.6 percent to 86 billion rand.
Monthly trade figures are often volatile, reflecting the timing of shipments of commodities such as oil and diamonds.