South Africa’s Economic Contraction Exceeds All Estimates
- Blackouts threaten to further weigh on economic growth
- Ramaphosa appoints electricity minister to stem energy crisis
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South Africa’s economy shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter, when the state-owned power utility intensified rolling blackouts that continue to put a dampener on output.
Gross domestic product contracted 1.3% in the three months through December, compared with upwardly revised growth of 1.8% in the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in a report released in the capital, Pretoria. That’s the biggest contraction since the third quarter of 2021, when deadly riots, looting and arson disrupted supply chains, industrial output and demand for manufactured goods.