Whether SA entered a technical recession — defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline — will be revealed at 11.30am when Statistics SA releases the second quarter’s gross domestic product (GDP) figures.The economists’ consensus, according to a poll done by Trading Economics, is that the quarterly change in SA’s GDP will have rebounded to slightly above zero from the first quarter’s 2.2% contraction."Key available data releases for the second quarter point to a weak GDP outcome, although the country may avoid a technical recession by a fine margin," Investec Economist Lara Hodes said in a note emailed on Monday."The industrial production sector — mining, electricity and manufacturing production — narrowly missed a further contraction in the second quarter, recording quarterly growth of 0.9%, buoyed by better than expected mining data," Hodes said. "This versus the first quarter’s 7.8% plunge. "However, the agricultural sector is expected to have contracted substantially ...
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