JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand eased from its strongest level in five months on Friday, a day after a minister said that a new inflation-targeting plan was imminent.
At 1425 GMT, the rand traded at 18.095 against the dollar, about 0.4% weaker than its previous close. It hit 17.9925 per dollar in the morning session for the first time since mid-December.
Markets welcomed Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo’s comments at an investor conference on Thursday that an announcement would be made “very soon” about South Africa’s inflation-targeting regime.
The central bank’s current inflation target is a 3-6% range and its governor Lesetja Kganyago has for years argued for a lower target.
“With little data on the economic front, markets’ attention will likely remain on international geopolitics,” said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to meet his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump next week in a bid to reset strained ties.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told the broadcaster SABC late on Thursday that the visit would be short and would not involve a large delegation.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index was up 0.2%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally stronger, with the yield down 0.5 basis point to 8.865%.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Kevin Liffey, William Maclean)
