Economics
South African Growth Weakens Amid Worst Drought in 100 Years
- Agriculture contracts 14% in quarter, manufacturing drops 2.6%
- Government forecasts economy to expand 0.9% this year
Dried maize corn plants grow in a drought affected field in South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The worst drought in more than a century cut South African farming output and hurt manufacturing, curbing growth in the continent’s second-largest economy to an annualized 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter.
The economy’s rebound from a recession in 2009 has struggled to gain traction as commodity prices slumped and growth in South Africa’s biggest export market, China, slowed. South Africa’s outlook has deteriorated since last year because of the drought, prompting Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last week to reduce his growth forecast for 2016 by almost half to 0.9 percent.