The South African rand traded cautiously on Wednesday as anxious market watchers are hoping the release of key economic data and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) would provide a cue on the future course of the economy.
The local unit was marginally higher at 15.3450 against the US greenback at the opening of trading on Wednesday, up from the previous day’s close of 15.3500.
Ramaphosa is due to present his SONA address in parliament on Thursday in which he is expected to give, among other things, an indication of how the economy has performed over the past few months as well as his government’s programme of action over the coming year.
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry was Wednesday expected to release the country’s business confidence index for the period from December 2021 to January 2022.
Business confidence has been stifled by intermittent power cuts by state utility Eskom and the riots that rocked the country in July 2021.
JN/APA