One of South Africa’s biggest shopping malls cut off, and warning to people who drink tap water
The rand weakened on Wednesday, affected by a stronger dollar that overshadowed domestic inflation and retail sales figures released by the country’s statistics agency.
The rand traded at 16.07 against the dollar, down 0.3% from Tuesday’s close. Meanwhile, the US dollar index gained 0.3% against a basket of currencies in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes, expected to be released later in the day.
The rand typically responds to global factors, such as US policy, as well as domestic economic data. South Africa’s annual inflation rate decreased to 3.5% in January, down from 3.6% in December.
This figure is slightly above economists’ forecast of 3.4% but below Nedbank’s forecast of 3.6%. Analysts expect inflation to remain subdued, which could pave the way for additional interest rate cuts by the central bank.
Retail sales rose by 2.6% year-on-year in December, falling short of the poll estimate of 3.1%. In a separate report, a gauge of South African business confidence declined slightly in January.
However, it remains at a high level following a significant improvement last year. On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index gained more than 2%.
As of Thursday, 19 February, the rand is trading at R16.08 to the dollar, R21.69 to the pound, and R18.96 to the euro. Gold is currently valued at $4,996.29 per ounce, while oil prices have risen to $70.50 per barrel.
5 important things happening in South Africa today
Warning to people who drink tap water: A water infrastructure expert has warned that a strategy being used by Gauteng municipalities to tackle the water crisis could risk contaminating drinking water with sewage. This follows Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister David Mahlobo’s announcement about implementing water load-shifting measures. [MyBroadband]
R150 million debt causes power cuts: A ruling by the Free State High Court has resulted in Centlec disconnecting electricity to Bloemfontein’s largest mall, the Loch Logan Waterfront. The property is owned by the Michael Family Trust, controlled by Michael Georgiou, who also co-owns Fourways Mall in Johannesburg with Accelerate Property Fund. [Moneyweb]
Big tariff reduction on the cards from Eskom: Glencore CEO Gary Nagle expressed confidence that Eskom will meet the group’s demand for a 54% reduction in tariffs by the end of the month, thereby levelling the playing field with Chinese ferrochrome smelters. [BusinessDay]
Ninety One aims to rebuild South Africa’s infrastructure: Hendrik du Toit, CEO of Ninety One, announced that the company’s acquisition of Sanlam Investment Management and its R400 billion in assets will allow it to help rebuild South Africa’s infrastructure. [News24]
YouTube blackout: YouTube experienced a global outage early Wednesday morning, with millions of users reporting issues between 2:30 AM and 4:30 AM, according to Downdetector. The platform later confirmed the outage was due to a problem with its recommendations system. [EWN]
Loading ...