JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s rand weakened past the threshold of 14 to the dollar early on Friday on data pointing to weak economic growth.
At 07:32am the rand had weakened by 0,48% to 14.0750 after closing at 14.0075 in New York.
Rand Merchant Bank analyst Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana said the rand was specifically suffering from evidence of weak growth in South Africa.
Data from Statistics South Africa released on Thursday showed that mining output was down 7,5% year-on-year in February, while manufacturing production barely grew, rising by 0,6%.
Ramkhelawan-Bhana added that political risk would become more apparent as national elections on May 8 approached.
“For now, the rand will trade off global happenings; this exposes it to two-way risk,” she said.
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 was up 2 basis points to 8.510 percent in early trade.
Reuters
