JOHANNESBURG, Dec 8 – Growth in South Africa’s manufacturing production slowed sharply in October and mining output contracted, reflecting the impact of a global slowdown and supporting the case for a domestic interest rate cut.
Reserve Bank data showed on Thursday that spending and investment increased in the third quarter which pushed imports up and contributed to higher than expected current account data in the quarter.
But data showed the production side of the economy was still struggling. Total mining output contracted by 12.7 percent year-on-year in October while growth in manufacturing output slowed sharply to 1.0 percent year-on-year in the same period.
Source: Reuters Africa newsletter
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