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South Africa’s rand strengthened to a fresh 13-month high on Friday, supported by improved investor sentiment on signs the domestic economy is starting to gain momentum.
The rand was 0,7 percent higher at 17.63 per dollar. It earlier hit 17,5950 against the greenback, a level not seen since late July 2023.
The rand’s gains come ahead of US core personal consumption expenditure data, a key inflation reading, later on Friday that could cement bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next month.
Analysts have linked recent rand strength to a structural improvement on the supply side of Africa’s most industrialised economy, with South Africa not witnessing rolling power cuts for over 150 days thanks to a big improvement in state power utility Eskom’s performance.
“There have been no power cuts in South Africa for several months, which may not sound very impressive at first, but this has not happened in South Africa for years,” Commerzbank FX analyst Volkmar Baur said in a research note.
Power cuts have hampered South Africa’s economic growth for over a decade, with outages on a record 335 days last year.
Inflation also appears to have turned a corner. July consumer inflation fell to a three-year low of 4.6 percent, falling close to the midpoint of the South African central bank’s 3 percent to 6 percent target range and bolstering expectations the bank will cut its main interest rate for the first time in four years next month.
Baur said lower domestic interest rates could stimulate further investment and structural improvements in the economy. —Reuters
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