Current account

I had to listen to all these big shots talking about the great success of the EU communication and their bright ideas.

They wanted to sell something called La Leistungsbilanz.

I remember they were very proud.

They found this way to talk to European citizens to explain to them why There is the European Union, and they were very proud because they found this word which is French.

And India hosts BRICS summit as Iran war tests block unity.

South Africa recorded a current account deficit in the second quarter after a strong surplus in the first three months of this year, as the Iran war drove import costs sharply higher, central bank data showed today.

The current account deficit was 2.6% of gross domestic product in the second quarter, compared with a surplus of 2.3% in the first quarter of 2026, the South African Reserve Bank said.

The deficit on the current account was R205.5 billion in April to June, compared with a surplus of R181.6 billion in January to March.

The trade surplus narrowed sharply to R146.4 billion from R428.8 billion in the previous quarter.

On to story number two, it is a big week for economic news.

Tomorrow we get the June quarter GDP figures, but today we learned the current account deficit has widened to $27.2 billion.

With soaring fuel imports one of the major reasons, the deficit grew by about $1.7 billion in the June quarter as imports of fuels and lubricants jumped more than 42%.

The ABS says higher crude oil and refined petroleum prices were a major factor while diesel imports also increased as the government secured additional shipments.

There was a 38% jump in imports of non-industrial transport equipment.

driven by record electric and hybrid vehicle imports.

The results now means that Australia has recorded two consecutive quarterly current account deficits.

There you go.