South Africans spend R1.475 trillion in March, but rising fuel costs threaten economic outlook

After South Africans spent R1.475 trillion in March, an indication of an improvement in economic activity, there are dark clouds ahead as higher fuel costs will spill over into everyday essentials.

This is according to the latest PayInc Economic Index, which showed that the nominal value – which includes inflationary effects – of electronic transactions rose from R1.326 trillion in February to R1.475 trillion in March.

The volume of transactions also increased sharply, reaching 195.5 million in March, up 13.4% year-on-year.

By Nicola Mawson

Full story at IOL