The rand’s crash on Monday when President Jacob Zuma recalled Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan from London has not changed economists’ consensus that the Reserve Bank will hold interest rates steady on Thursday. But the hope of an interest rate cut later in 2017 have been dashed by the rand’s U-turn on the fear that Zuma is set on replacing Gordhan. On Tuesday, EFF leader Julius Malema tweeted: "Speculation is that the duo [Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas] may be fired tomorrow evening, after Uncle Kathy’s funeral." Relief that Zuma did not fire Gordhan on Wednesday night saw the rand trading relatively unchanged at R13.06/$ on Thursday morning. The yield on government’s benchmark 10-year R186 bond improved slightly to 8.67% on Wednesday from Tuesday’s 8.73%. Malema said ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told Gordhan that Zuma intended to appoint "Zupta faction" favourite Brian Molefe as finance minister. This plan was delayed by the death of struggle hero Ahmed Kathrada. "JZ...
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