South Africa’s continued disappointing economic growth remains the most significant feature of the country’s macroeconomic performance, North-West University Business School economist Professor Raymond Parsons has said following the release of the first-quarter GDP figures by Statistics South Africa on June 4. “The negative GDP figure of -0.1% quarter-on-quarter again reflects how difficult it has been for the economy to gain momentum in the recent past. Although GDP growth may yet reach about a modest 0.9% in 2024 as a whole, total GDP in the first quarter is in fact lower than the peak reached in the third quarter of 2022,” he noted.
