JOHANNESBURG - The economy showed early signs of life in February, but a global shock could quickly reverse that progress.
The PayInc Economic Index, which tracks everyday transactions, picked up slightly.
This suggests that things were slowly getting better at the start of the year.
Electronic transactions climbed to 177.9 million, while their total value jumped to R1.33-trillion.
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This shows that consumers and businesses are still spending.
But that progress may not last.
The war in the Middle East is already pushing up global oil prices and weakening the rand.
That means petrol and diesel are expected to become much more expensive in the coming weeks.
And when fuel prices rise, almost everything else becomes more expensive too.