JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- South African Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said Monday the country's economic growth projection of 1.3 percent remains at risk, but the government is cautiously optimistic.
Gigaba made the remarks at Tax Indaba 2017, a conference of the South African tax community, in Sandton.
The second quarter of 2017 recorded a 2.5 percent growth, after two successive quarters of negative growth.
"Despite this rebound, other indicators of household consumption, including consumer confidence, employment prospects, and credit growth, unfortunately remain weak," said Gigaba. "We therefore remain cautious on the prospects of sustained household consumption expenditure at this pace."
"The global economy continues to grow moderately, supported by stronger trade and industrial production. Global financial markets have also been supportive towards emerging markets, and commodity prices have risen this year," he said. "This is a critical opportunity for our economy. We need to take advantage of favorable global conditions by getting our sectors working."
Gigaba said some risks still exist and South Africa has to aggressively drive the industrialization program forward and reduce reliance on primary production.
