Rand rocked by shock new trade stats
The rand fell through a series of record lows against the dollar yesterday, knocked back largely by a widening trade deficit and a gloomy economic review from the Reserve Bank. The rand tumbled after the announcement of a much wider-than-expected trade deficit for October, while the bank's comments citing the rapidly weakening currency as a major contributor to rising inflation also weighed heavily.By the close of business yesterday the currency traded at 14.4850 to the dollar, down 0.57% from Friday's close.Domestic budget deficit data, which showed a narrower deficit of R26.548-billion in October, compared with R29.296-billion for the same month in 2014/15, had earlier offered temporary relief.Lower commodity prices due to weaker demand from China, and drought are pressuring exports."There is still little to suggest that the weaker rand is having the desired effect of stimulating domestic exports," BNP Paribas securities SA economist Jeffrey Schultz said...
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