South Africa’s rand was pressured by a stronger US dollar in early trade on Tuesday ahead of the release of domestic money supply, budget, trade and unemployment data later in the day.
At 0550 GMT, the rand was trading at 18.4600 against the US dollar, about 0.2% lower than its close on Monday.
The dollar rose 0.2% against a basket of world currencies. South Africa’s January money supply figures are due at 06:00 GMT, followed by fourth quarter unemployment figures at 09:30 GMT.
January trade and budget data will be released at 1200 GMT. South Africa’s economy is expected to see minimal growth this year as record blackouts cripple businesses of all sizes.
At its first interest rate meeting in 2023, the central bank cut this year’s growth forecast to 0.3% from a previous estimate of 1.1%.
