CAIRO, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's economy is not expected to contract by more than 6.4 percent in 2009, the deputy finance minister said on Saturday.
'We have already reached a low of 6.4 (percent), I think that will actually be the lowest,' Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on the sidelines of a conference in Cairo. 'We are likely to make a come back but it very difficult to predict.'
Asked about the April inflation rate of 8.4 percent, he said: 'With the current economic situation, (it is) not very high but also we need to guard against it actually going beyond that.'
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp, Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Keiron Henderson) Keywords: SAFRICA ECONOMY/ (edmund.blair@thomsonreuters.com, +20 2 2578 3290, Reuters Messaging: edmund.blair.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'We have already reached a low of 6.4 (percent), I think that will actually be the lowest,' Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on the sidelines of a conference in Cairo. 'We are likely to make a come back but it very difficult to predict.'
Asked about the April inflation rate of 8.4 percent, he said: 'With the current economic situation, (it is) not very high but also we need to guard against it actually going beyond that.'
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp, Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Keiron Henderson) Keywords: SAFRICA ECONOMY/ (edmund.blair@thomsonreuters.com, +20 2 2578 3290, Reuters Messaging: edmund.blair.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.