South Africa’s economy struggling at start of Q2

April’s activity data suggest that the weakness of South Africa’s economy in the first quarter of the year – in which GDP expanded by a measly 0.1% q/q – carried over into the start of Q2. Industry continued to struggle and the retail sector lost some momentum. For now, though, the backdrop of low inflation, looser monetary policy and easing supply-side constraints mean that we are hopeful that growth will steadily pick up over the next couple of years.