JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand was steady in early trading on Friday, after President Cyril Ramaphosa said his government would launch a second wave of reforms to try to boost economic growth.
At 0752 GMT, the rand traded at 18.4325 against the dollar, not far from its previous close.
South African investors are cautiously wrapping up a week which started with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he would cut off funding for South Africa because he said, without citing evidence, that the country was confiscating land.
Ramaphosa said on Thursday that his country “will not be bullied”.
Ramaphosa, in his annual state of the nation address, also promised reforms aimed at lifting South Africa’s growth above 3%, by boosting struggling state companies like power utility Eskom and logistics group Transnet and investing in infrastructure.
“It (the rand) may have started the week on the defensive but appears to be ending it firmly on the front foot as the USD-ZAR now looks set to target levels closer to 18.4000 ahead of the weekend,” ETM Analytics said in a research note.
The dollar last traded about 0.1% stronger against a basket of currencies, as investors await U.S. nonfarm payroll data to gauge the health of its labour market.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index last traded about 0.5% higher.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker in early deals, with the yield up 2 basis points to 9.07%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Jane Merriman)
