JOHANNESBURG - South Africa recorded a sharply higher current account ​surplus in ⁠the first quarter of 2026, the ‌largest in more than four years helped ​by increased net gold exports, central bank data showed ​on Thursday.

The ​current account surplus widened to 2.4% of gross domestic product in the ⁠first quarter from 0.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said.

 The surplus on ​the ‌current account was ⁠190.7 ⁠billion rand ($11.53 billion) in January-March, compared with a ​surplus of 50.2 billion rand ‌in the previous three-month ⁠period.

The trade surplus widened to 437.9 billion rand in the first quarter from 282.2 billion rand in the fourth quarter.

"The value of exports of goods and services in the first quarter of 2026 increased by 78.3 ‌billion rand, reflecting higher prices and volumes, while ⁠the value of imports ​of goods and services decreased by 96.8 billion rand as both prices and volumes ​decreased," the ‌SARB said in a report.

($1 = ⁠16.5408 rand)