Cape Town — The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that the country recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R6.9 billion.
SARS attributed this to exports of R192.2 billion and imports of R185.3 billion, inclusive of trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Namibia (BELN) in March 2023.
The year-to-date (01 January to 31 March 2023) preliminary trade balance deficit of R6.2 billion is a deterioration from the R61.9 billion trade balance surplus for the comparable period in 2022.
Export flows for March 2023, at R192.2 billion, were 3.2% higher compared to March 2022 (R186.3bn) whilst import flows were 30.9% higher having increased from R141.5 billion in March 2022 to R185.3 billion in the current
period.
“On a month-to-month basis, exports increased by R40.8 billion (26.9%) from R151.4 billion to R192.2 billion between February and March 2023 whereas imports increased by R44.6 billion (31.7%) from R140.7 billion to R185.3 billion over the same period.
“Export flows increased in March, driven by gold. Value of imports increased on the back of higher importation of crude oil and petroleum oils,” said SARS.
“Due to ongoing Vouchers of Correction (VOC), the preliminary trade balance surplus of R16.1 billion announced for February 2023 was revised downwards by R5.4 billion, with the final number at R10.7 billion,” SARS added.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
