Off the wire
• Urgent: U.S. stocks decline after Draghi comments  • Address by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the China-U.S. Governors' Forum (2)  • Colombian President Santos, FARC leader head for Cuba ahead of landmark meeting  • 1st LD Writethru: Gold futures rebound as U.S. stocks edge down  • Address by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the China-U.S. Governors' Forum (1)  • Draghi pledges to act if European inflation outlook weakens  • Full text of Xi Jinping's speech on China-U.S. relations in Seattle (3)  • Full text of Xi Jinping's speech on China-U.S. relations in Seattle (2)  • Money outside Albania's banking system reaches 1.85 billion U.S. dollars  • Roundup: Refugee issue sparks discussion in Poland  
You are here: 　 Home

S. Africa revises down economic forecasts

Xinhua, September 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Wednesday revised down the country's economic growth forecasts.

"The domestic economic growth outlook deteriorated compared with the previous forecast," SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters in Pretoria.

Growth was revised down to 1.5 percent in 2015, 1.6 percent in 2016 and 2.1 percent in 2017 because of unstable global economy.

The bank's estimate of potential output for 2015 has also been revised down to 1.8 percent.

The bank had expected the economy to grow by 2 percent in 2015, 2.1 percent in 2016 and 2.6 percent in 2017.

Kganyago said the downward revision of economic growth came as a result of contraction in manufacturing, mining and agriculture.

He said that despite the surprise 1.3 percent contraction in economic growth in the second quarter of 2015, the same is not expected in the third quarter.

"While the MPC (the Monetary Policy Committee) is of the view that a further contraction is unlikely in the third quarter, the outlook remains relatively weak amid declining business and consumer confidence," the governor said.

The governor also announced that repo rate will remain unchanged at 6 percent.

The repo rate increase would have impacted negatively on the consumer, Kganyago said. Endit