PHOTO
South Africa's current account deficit narrowed to 1.0% of gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year from a revised 2.3% in the final quarter of last year, central bank data showed on Thursday.
In rand terms the current account balance for the January-March period recorded a deficit of 66.2 billion rand ($3.5 billion) from a revised deficit of 155.3 billion rand in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The trade surplus widened to 103.2 billion rand in the first quarter from 34.2 billion rand in the final quarter of 2022.
"The increase in the value of exports of goods and services reflected both higher volumes and prices while the increase in the value of imports of goods and services reflected higher volumes," the South African Reserve Bank said in a statement.
South African exports expanded by 4.1% in the first quarter, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday. Export growth came largely from increased trade in base metals with a weakened currency supporting mining exports. ($1 = 18.9502 rand) (Reporting by Kopano Gumbi Editing by Nellie Peyton)