Commodity prices buoy South Africa amid China’s slow growth blow

The world’s economy was dealt a heavy blow by Russia’s assault on Ukraine. The war prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut its global growth expectations, while inflation began to heat up well beyond what some central bankers are willing to endure.

Meanwhile, another threat to the global economy is also raising eyebrows: China’s growth, which has been put on the line by its government’s uncompromising approach to containing Covid-19. 

South Africa’s economic fate is closely tied to China, which imports the highest percentage of the goods produced by Africa’s southernmost country. But still-elevated commodity prices could keep South Africa from being pulled down by China’s slowed growth.

Shanghai was put under lockdown in March, after the financial hub faced an upsurge in Covid-19 infections. Shanghai is the largest single Chinese city to be locked down since the outbreak of the pandemic.