By Rorisang Modiba
South Africa’s economy narrowly avoided going into a recession last year — thanks to Eskom.
Reports indicate that increased power generation is the reason financial disaster was avoided.
The local economy managed to grow by just 0.1% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. A decline in economic growth for three consecutive months would have resulted in a recession.
The country’s real GDP growth for the year was 0.6%, a step down from 1.9% in 2022. Excluding the pandemic years, this is the lowest annual growth since 2009.
Key sectors like transport, storage and communication, mining and quarrying, personal services, finance, real estate, and business services contributed to this growth in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The economic outlook for the next two years is optimistic, with forecasts suggesting a slight improvement in growth rates.
Pictured above: South African money.
Image source: Stock
