Chronicle Editor
SOUTH Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar on Wednesday, struggling for momentum as a nationwide power crisis disrupted supplies to businesses and households, rattling sentiment.
Investor focus also remained intact on South Africa’s November consumer price inflation numbers and October retail sales data. At 0625 GMT, the rand traded at 14,8090 per dollar, 0,13 percent weaker than its New York close on Tuesday.
South Africa’s loss-making utility Eskom, which generates more than 90 percent of the country’s power, implemented rotational power cuts for seven straight days on Wednesday after flash flooding strained the firm’s already-creaking coal plants.
Power cuts have disrupted supplies to businesses and households across the country, a further blow to the South Africa’s already slowing economy.
South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter shrank 0,6 percent, the second contraction this year, as mining, manufacturing and agriculture were hit hard by a combination of low demand and the uncertainty around power supply.— Reuters Africa
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