Economic Growth Could Triple This Year: Absa

The economy could expand by 2.1 this year, analysts at the Johannesburg-based banking group said on Tuesday. That compares with the 1.7 expansion forecast by the central bank, up from 0.7 in 2024.

"Growth should be a lot better this year," Absa economist Miyelani Maluleke told a media round table. Milder inflation and lower borrowing costs are boosting income, he said, while investment should rebound from the depressed levels of recent years. "Cyclical support factors and a stronger consumer environment are positive."

South Africa's economy has grown by less than 1 on average for the last decade, handicapped by mismanagement and corruption at state-run entities that snarled vital infrastructure and caused frequent power cuts.

Load shedding has decreased sharply in the past 12 months and the formation of a broad coalition government after May elections boosted confidence, though that's recently taken some strain.

An index of consumer sentiment fell to -20 in the three months to March from -6 in the previous quarter, First National Bank said separately on Tuesday, citing worries about higher taxes and US relations. It was the lowest level since the second quarter of 2023.