SOUTH Africa’s economy will likely remain weak in the second quarter after unexpectedly contracting in the prior three months as election jitters weigh on demand.
Gross domestic product fell 0.1% in the three months through March, compared with revised growth of 0.3% in the prior quarter, Statistics South Africa said in a report released in the capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday.
Only two of 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey expected the contraction. The rand traded 0.9% weaker at R18.68 per US dollar as of 1 p.m. in Johannesburg.
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