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May 27 2012 11:21
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May 27 2012 13:09
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Johannesburg - The rand tumbled against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Friday as
the local currency tracked a jittery euro and as the SA Reserve Bank
disclosed that it would make an announcement of national importance on
Saturday afternoon.
"We can thank our friends in Greece for most of the rand's
troubles - it took only one minor opposition party to dislike the debt
deal and then we have this announcement in Pretoria tomorrow - things
felt uncomfortable as soon as that news came out," a local rand trader
said.
At 18:00 local time, the rand was bid at R7.7358 to the
dollar from its previous close of R7.5803. It was bid at R10.2025 to the
euro from R10.0748 before, and at R12.1720 against sterling from
R11.9938 previously.
The euro was bid at $1.3187 from its previous close of $1.3275.
Earlier, the SA Reserve Bank said the presidency, the Ministry
of Finance and the bank would make an announcement of national
importance on Saturday in Pretoria.
"The President, Mr Jacob Zuma, the Minister of Finance, Mr
Pravin Gordhan and the Governor of the SARB, Ms Gill Marcus will be in
attendance," the statement added.
Meanwhile Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro extended a
slide in European trading hours on Friday and the Australian dollar
continued a pullback from Wednesday's six-month high against the dollar,
as weary investors booked profits on positive currency bets and fears
re-emerged over Greece's ability to stave off a default.
Greek political leaders agreed on Thursday to stringent
spending cuts required by its international creditors, but eurozone
finance ministers have demanded these measures be approved by parliament
before they finally sign off on the deal.
Their demands set the stage for a further week of uncertainty
over the country's long-awaited bailout and debt-restructuring package.
But for now, a Greek bailout to stave off a messy debt default remained
elusive, with another eurozone meeting called for next week, the country
gripped by a nationwide strike and the small nationalist Laos party
already indicating it would not vote for the deal.
Against this backdrop, the euro slid against the dollar in
Asian trade from Thursday's near-two-month peak above $1.33, and marked a
new low for the day below $1.32 in European hours after an early
session rebound faltered.