Cabinet says it is pleased with South Africa’s economy, which grew by an annualised 2% in the third quarter of 2017, from an upwardly revised 2.8% in the second quarter.
“The stronger-than-expected performance was mainly due to continued strong growth in the agriculture sector, which contributed 0.9 percentage points to overall growth on the back of 44.2% quarter-on-quarter growth,” said Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane on Thursday.
The Minister was briefing the media on the outcomes of a Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
She said the strong performance in agriculture, which has seen three consecutive quarters of robust growth, was due to higher production of field crops (such as maize) in summer rainfall areas and horticultural products.
“Mining and manufacturing also contributed to the growth recorded, with mining and quarrying increasing by 6.6%, and contributing 0.5 percentage points to growth.
“The electricity sector was the biggest laggard, down by 5.5%. Growth in household consumption of 2.6% was mainly due to spending on durable goods, which accounted for 1.6 percentage points of the 2.6% increase,” Minister Kubayi-Ngubane said.
She said stronger-than-expected growth and the upward revision to the second quarter growth outcomes means growth could reach 0.9% in 2017.
“This is higher than the 0.7% anticipated at the time of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. Government needs to ensure that this growth momentum is maintained by continuing to implement the 14 confidence-boosting measures that build on improving consumer confidence and can restore business confidence,” Minister Kubayi-Ngubane said.
InvestSA One-Stop Shop
Cabinet also welcomed the launch of the InvestSA One-Stop Shop in KwaZulu-Natal by President Jacob Zuma as part of efforts to improve the ease of doing business in South Africa.
The third One-Stop Shop launched recently in the country aims to create a conducive environment by providing a focal point of contact for investors to obtain all services to fast-track projects and reduce government red tape when starting a business. – SAnews.gov.za
