S Africa 1Q Current Account Deficit Widens to 2.1% of GDP, From 1.7% in Q4--Reserve Bank

South Africa's current account deficit widened to 2.1% of gross domestic product in the first quarter, from 1.7% three months earlier, the country's central bank said Tuesday.

The main reason behind the deeper deficit was a sharp decline in dividend receipts from abroad, even as the country maintained a trade surplus, the South African Reserve Bank said in its quarterly bulletin.

Africa's most developed economy entered a technical recession in the first quarter--its first since 2009.

Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at gabriele.steinhauser@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2017 05:01 ET (09:01 GMT)