The rand posted its biggest decline in almost a month on Tuesday, which together with an oil price that surged to its highest level in 2019 may signal more bad news for SA consumers ahead of May’s elections. SA’s currency has lost almost 2% since the last trading day before the long weekend, dragged down by disclosure of a R5bn emergency bailout for Eskom after a Chinese loan did not arrive on time. The emergency rescue further highlighted risks posed to the economy by Eskom’s financial crisis, which saw public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan being forced to deny that the utility is on the verge of financial collapse. The rand had dropped 1.15%, the biggest decline since March 27, to R14.3264/$ by 5.25pm. This made it the worst-performing emerging-market currency tracked by Bloomberg. Since reaching its 2019 best of R13.2349/$ on January 31, it has lost 6% against its US counterpart. It was 0.55% weaker at R18.5057/£, while it had fallen 0.57% to R16.0353/€. The rand’s decline w...
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