SA’s private sector credit extension rose at its fastest pace since October in April, beating market forecasts. Last week, Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan said in a note that she expected an improvement in the April data due to a technical adjustment. "Specifically, there was a technical correction to the household credit data in April 2016 pertaining to the inclusion of new African Bank data. Discounting the effect of this technical adjustment, the underlying trend in household credit growth is likely to have remained subdued," she said. Growth in extension of credit to the private sector — consumers and business — rose to an annualised 5.9% in April, its best level since October. This compared with 4.98% in March, the Reserve Bank data showed on Tuesday. "The key reason for the lift in the credit figures was the low base in April 2016, which was due to the removal of part of African Bank’s personal loans book," Nedbank’s economics team said in a note. Household credit was R1.5-t...
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