THE ANC is pleased with the economic growth of +0,6% in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023.
It followed a growth of +0,4% in Q1 2023.
ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the growth was modest and better than expected.
She said President Cyril Ramaphosa has provided the drive for investment into the country and the quarterly release of StatsSA results showed that some of this investment was being felt in the real economy, and not just in portfolio investment.
ALSO READ: 'Mashatile's issue is being addressed'
Bhengu-Motsiri pointed out that this investment spending was made in a difficult environment where Mzansi is faced with load shedding.
She claimed that this showed that there were favourable responses to some of the "policy signals" emerging from the ANC government.
"These include, among others, incentives in the energy sector such as the 125% depreciation allowances for capital investment on solar by firms and the personal tax allowances to stimulate solar energy utilisation," she said.
According to StatsSA, six industries recorded positive growth between the first quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2023.
The manufacturing industry increased by +2,2% and contributed +0,3 of a percentage point to GDP growth.
The finance industry increased by +0,7% and contributed +0,2 of a percentage point to GDP growth.
The agricultural industry increased by +4,2% and contributed +0.1 of a percentage point to GDP growth.
General capital investment specialist Professor Adrian Saville told Newzroom Afrika that the 0,9 was at the top of expectations.
Bhengu-Motsiri said the growth was primarily due to increased economic activities reported for field crops and horticulture products which are the most labour-intensive segments of agriculture.
"The ANC is also pleased that the exports of goods and services increased by +0.9%. However, due to the recovery increasing consumption expenditure, this also gave rise to imports growing at a faster rate, thus negatively affected the net exports element of GDP growth," she said.
