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Johannesburg - The rand firmed sharply and government bonds rallied on Tuesday after the national budget showed higher growth forecasts and a lower-than-expected budget deficit for 2009/10.
At 14:29 the rand was at 7.5987 against the dollar, from 7.6724 just prior to the budget speech at 14:00.
Focusing on the rand, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan also said the country needed a stable and competitive exchange rate, adding that government was concerned that at certain times, rapid capital inflows that may be required to sustain investment spending have the unintended consequence of appreciating the currency.
"We have therefore agreed with the Reserve Bank that we will continue to take steps to counter the volatility of the exchange rate and to lean against the wind during periods of rapid capital inflows, including reserve accumulation and further exchange control reform," he said.
A local trader said: "Points that we thought the Minister might change, are precisely the things they have not changed.
"From a business point of view, there appears to be no negatives, on the face of it."
The yield on the 2015 bond was down at 8.215 percent versus 8.28 percent before, 11.5 basis points lower for the session.
- I-Net Bridge