JOHANNESBURG, March 28 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand
extended losses against the dollar on Wednesday after ratings
agency SP downgraded the country’s outlook to negative from
stable, citing structural economic and social problems.
The rand weakened to 7.6650 to the greenback, down
0.7 percent on the day, from 7.6430 just before the SP release.
The agency said South Africa’s near-term political pressures
have eased and the Treasury remained committed to fiscal
consolidation, but problems such as high unemployment and a
structural current account deficit persisted.
(Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Ed Cropley)
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