After several credit rating downgrades, persistently low confidence and political and policy uncertainty, economic growth for 2017 looks set to emerge stronger than anticipated. A rebound in the primary sector, including manufacturing, has ignited hope that SA could see stronger growth for the year, Statistics SA is expected to show on Tuesday. GDP surprised in the third quarter of 2017 with an increase of 2.0% quarter on quarter, providing a glimmer of hope that SA’s growth for the year would surpass the poor performance of 2016, when the expansion was a paltry 0.3%. Former finance minister Malusi Gigaba’s budget has also provided impetus to the notion of improved performance. While growth remains modest, the economy is expected to lift to 1% in 2017, up from a previously anticipated 0.7%, Gigaba said. He ascribed the strong growth forecast to agricultural performance, higher commodity prices and, in recent months, improving investor sentiment.
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