Talk about a cold shower. SA’s economy shrank by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2018 on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis. Although most economists had pencilled in a decline, the negative number is much higher than anticipated. The results are that the first quarter marked the economy’s worst quarter-on-quarter performance since the global financial crisis. So much for Ramaphoria. The shock of the lower-than-expected number had an immediate and dramatic effect on the rand, which weakened about 10c against the dollar, a decline that was pared down later in the day. The decline was really the result of unexpected weakness almost across the board. Some sectors were expected to decline, but there was hope these declines would be mitigated by rebounds in other areas. As it turned out, mining fell 9.9%, manufacturing 6.4% and construction 1.9%. But the real shocker was the agricultural sector, which declined 24.7%. Earlier in 2018, there was hope that consumer confidence, which is...
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