Johannesburg – The rand has extended losses against the dollar on Friday, falling to a new 13-year low, as the US currency firmed on expectations the Federal Reserve could hike rates by June.
The rand breached the psychological R12.5000 level to the dollar on the day and was trading 1.42% weaker at R12.4720/$ as of 16:30 GMT.
The rand has dropped to its weakest levels since 2002 in the past week as riskier emerging market assets came under pressure on increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise rates by the middle of this year.