South Africa’s rand firms as Fed rate cut bets offset budget fears
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand firmed on Tuesday as bets of rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve outweighed fears that the local medium term budget would show wider government deficits and deeper debt.
At 0600 GMT, the rand strengthened 0.14% at 14.5420 per dollar, near the 1-1/2 month best of 14.5150 it touched in the previous session, bringing October gains to nearly 6% in a surprise rally by a currency facing major headwinds.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivers a keenly-awaited medium-term budget speech on Wednesday, which is expected to show a wider budget deficit than the February estimate of 4.5%, as well as higher debt and lower growth projections.
Source: iol.co.za
