By Dipo Olowookere
Reports from South Africa show that the country’s economy, the second largest in Africa, has again dropped into a technical recession.
This was after the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2018 compressed further by 0.7 percent, according to figures released on Tuesday by Stats SA.
This marks two consecutive periods of contraction the country was recording, which therefore equates to a recession.
Business Post reports that in the first quarter of this year, South Africa’s GDP contracted by 2.6 percent.
“Real gross domestic product (measured by production) decreased by 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2018, following a decrease of 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
“The largest negative contributors to growth in GDP in the second quarter were agriculture, transport and trade,” the Stats SA said in its report today.
This is the first recession South Africa is entering into since its new leader, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, took over from Mr Jacob Zuma, who also witnessed an economic recession while in office.
