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South African rand falls as US tariffs and budget concerns linger

South African rand falls as US tariffs and budget concerns linger

South Africa's currency, the rand, fell on Friday as worries lingered about President Donald Trump's tariffs in the United States and an impasse that existed between the two largest parties of the ruling coalition over the state budget.

At 1507 GMT the rand was trading at 18.3975 per dollar, which is about 0.8% lower than its previous closing.

After Trump's announcement that tariffs would be imposed on auto imports starting at midnight on April 3, the markets waited for more clarity.

The African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) have been fighting for weeks about a proposed VAT increase in the national budget.

News24, a local news website, reported Friday that the ANC had rejected the DA’s request for the two parties to reach an agreement on shared management of the economic policy. The DA said it had staked its support for budget on achieving such an agreement.

The Top-40 Index closed the day on the stock exchange about 0.4% lower.

The yield on South Africa's benchmark government bond for 2030 was 0.5 basis points higher at 9.155%. Reporting by Sfundo parakozov and Bhargav acharya, Editing by Hugh Lawson & Ros Russell

(source: Reuters)