South Africans held their breath as gold tumbled past $350 an ounce in July and kept on breaking through lower and lower barriers, setting back hopes for a strong revival in economic growth this year. Gold, although it is losing its place as the single dominant factor in the South African economy, still has a major role to play. In 1979 it accounted for 70% of export earnings but by last year this had dropped to 21%.
This reduction in the importance of gold exports not only reflects the lower price but also the increasing volume of other exports.
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