Current Account reflects the net trade balance (the difference between exported and imported goods and services), the net factor income (such as interest, dividends, etc.) and net transfer payments (e.g. foreign donations). In addition to the absolute value, the Current Account is also expressed as a percentage of the country's GDP, which indicates the country's level of international competitiveness.
A current account surplus increases net external assets and leads to an increase in capital exports in the form of an increase in external assets in the capital account. In general, values that exceed expectations are regarded as positive for ZAR and negative if they are below expectations.