SA may still be on track for more than 1% growth in 2017, with data from February suggesting the economy is growing. The Reserve Bank’s composite leading business cycle indicator was up 1.1% on a month-to-month basis in February. The indicator is a strong projection of SA’s economic growth cycle for the next six to 12 months. Six of the 10 component time series that were available for February 2017 increased, while four decreased. The largest positive contributions to the movement in the composite leading indicator in February resulted from an increase in the South African produced export commodity price index (US dollar based), followed by an acceleration in the number of residential building plans passed. The latest indicator numbers are in line with expectations for the economy to grow more than 1% in 2017, though many economists have recently lowered their growth forecasts. The Reserve Bank compiles the leading indicator by assessing monthly movements in various economic indicat...
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