SOUTH African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has his work cut out to calm frayed investor nerves over the country’s outlook, if rand and bond movements are anything to judge by.
As Godongwana prepares to present his medium-term budget on Wednesday, South Africa’s local-currency bonds are in retreat. They have lost 3.1% over the past week in dollar terms, compared with an average decline of 1% across emerging markets, with only Colombian debt faring worse.
Foreign investors have sold R7.9 billion of South African debt in that time — their heaviest disposals since July. Yields on benchmark debt are near levels last seen at the height of the pandemic in 2020, as is the rand-dollar exchange rate.
The currency and South African local debt proved resilient earlier in the year, with the rand depreciating at a slower pace than most of its peers against the greenback. But a mix of global
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