The rand hit an all-time low against the dollar on Friday, extending steep losses from the previous day.
On Thursday, the US ambassador said he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa last year.
The US assertion came at a time when investor sentiment towards South Africa had already badly soured over the worst power cuts on record that show no sign of abating.
The South African government is opening an independent inquiry led by a retired judge into the allegation of an arms shipment to Russia, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said on Thursday.
By 9.18am on Friday the rand was about 1% weaker than its previous close at R19.39/US$, taking losses since the start of the week to more than 5%.
JPMorgan in a research note on Friday said it now forecast a 0.2% decline in South Africa’s 2023 GDP versus a previous forecast for 0.3% growth, citing expectations for deeper power cuts. — Tannur Anders, (c) 2023 Reuters
