https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Current account deficit not sustainable – Roodt

15th October 2014

By: Sapa

  

Font size: - +

South Africa's current account deficit is not sustainable and South Africans are not investing enough, Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said on Wednesday.

South Africa's current account deficit of around five to six percent was "quite big", Roodt told journalists in Johannesburg.

"A current account deficit tells us you import more than you export. It also tells you that you consume more than what we produce," he said.

"It also tells you that... we save less than what we invest and we don't invest enough."

Roodt compared a deficit of six percent to a farmer who produced 100 bags of mielies and consumed 106 bags of mielies every year.

"That is unsustainable because the only way you can consume 106 [bags] while producing 100 is borrowing the extra six from your neighbour," Roodt said.

"The day will come when your neighbour says 'Give me back my mielies', and that's what's happening at the moment."

Foreigners were pulling their money out of South Africa and the rand was coming under pressure.

"This is a big deficit in the South African economy and it's an indication of the massive capital shortage in South Africa."

Edited by Sapa

Comments

Showroom

SBS Tanks
SBS Tanks

SBS® Tanks is a leading provider of innovative water security solutions with offices in Southern Africa, East and West Africa, the USA and an...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Flameblock
Flameblock

FlameBlock is a proudly South African company that engineers, manufactures and supplies fire intumescent and retardant products to the fire...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Magazine round up | 19 April 2024
Magazine round up | 19 April 2024
19th April 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.198 0.258s - 137pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now