[ad_1]
Statistics South Africa announced Tuesday morning that the South African economy contracted for another quarter, this time by 51%.
The record drop was due to the “impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions from late March 2020.”
This extends South Africa’s recession for another quarter, as the economy continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic and rising unemployment.
The second quarter of the year includes the months of April, May and June, when the strictest blocking measures in the country were applied.
South Africa entered its second recession under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration in the second half of 2019. Data released by Stats SA on Tuesday means that GDP has now fallen for four consecutive quarters.
Following the release of first-quarter GDP figures in July, which showed South Africa’s economy contracting 2%, the Treasury said it expected South Africa’s GDP to contract by a record 7.2% for the year.
Ahead of the release of the latest GDP data on Tuesday, the economic consensus for a contraction of more than 40%, with some economists warning of a drop of as much as 50%.
