PwC focus on GDP data

Q2 GDP data confirms deep lockdown recession

Economy shrinks 17.1% y-o-y, more interest rate cuts expected

Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) reported on September 8 that the South African economy contracted by 51.0% q-o-q in the second quarter of 2020 due to the national lockdown. The q-o-q decline in economic activity was slightly worse than economists had expected. On a technical note, the q-o-q number refers to a seasonally adjusted and annualised rate (saar). It indicates that, if the same collapse in activity were to continue for a full 12 months, the economy would end this period at around half if its first quarter size. The actual decline in activity between Q1 and Q2 was likely closer to 14%.

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