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Johannesburg - The rand is likely to stay under pressure this week if current account data released on Tuesday proves worse than expected.
The rand was at R9.1075 to the dollar at 06:27 GMT, barely changed from its close in New York on Friday.
It breached the psychologically key R9.0 to the dollar barrier at the end of February after figures showed the trade deficit increased to a record R24.53bn in January from R2.7bn in December.
Sluggish growth and widening current account and budget deficits have dented investor confidence in South Africa.
Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus said on Friday that the rand may have weakened too much this year, requiring policymakers to keep a close eye on wages and prices. She added that inflation could briefly breach the 3%-6% band.
In addition to current account data, manufacturing production and retail sales figures are also due this week.
"A continuation in the widening of the current account deficit and the ratings agencies may start to become more vocal especially as the country is already on a "negative" watch with all of them," Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler wrote in a note.
"With the level of foreign investment into our bond market, this will not be the kind of noise they will want to hear."
The 2026 and 2015 government bonds were yielding 7.38% and 5.355% respectively.
