Consumer Looking Better But Not Out Of Woods Just Yet

The South African consumer has looked in better shape over the past few months. A particularly challenging H110 (calendar), a big boost from the summer World Cup and pretty good momentum thereafter suggests that at least some of the discretion that has characterised spending over the past two years is unwinding. To be sure, Q210 GDP by expenditure data showed private consumption up 4.7% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q). Although the World Cup caveat is a strong one, this was backed up by pretty firm retail sales momentum. According to Statistics South Africa, sales were up 7.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) in July

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options: