The rand steadied on Friday morning and was poised to snap three consecutive weeks of losses as tension eased around the future of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in the wake of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) laying fraud charges against him last week. "The local political noise has subsided somewhat but remains in the background, with people now being much more alert to any sudden announcements/developments," Standard Bank trader Oliver Alwar said. Analysts have also said the local currency is unlikely to make meaningful gains before the medium-term budget policy statement next week. The statement is likely to shape the views of the rating agencies, which are due to review the country’s credit ratings in the next two months. S&P Global Ratings, which has the country’s credit rating just one notch above sub-investment grade, will review its decision on December 2. The local currency blew out to R14.50 against the dollar last week as news of fraud charges against Gordhan br...
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