* Rand hits a fresh one-month high
* Govt bonds weaken but seen supported
By Tshepo Tshabalala
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 11 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand
followed the euro and firmed against the dollar on Tuesday
despite the local current account recording its largest deficit
in nearly four years in the second quarter.
The euro advanced to a four-month high against the dollar on
increased expectations a German court will back the euro zone
bailout fund, while the greenback fell broadly on speculation
the Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy further this week
to boost a slumping U.S. economy.
The rand at 1600 GMT traded at 8.1550 against the
dollar, 0.45 percent firmer than Monday’s New York close of
8.19. It earlier hit a one-month high of 8.1261.
In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, South Africa’s Reserve
Bank said the current account gap widened to 200 billion rand
($24.5 billion) or 6.4 percent of GDP from 4.9 percent in the
first quarter.
State spending on wages pushed gross domestic expenditure to
4.7 percent.
“The deficit will be in the back of investor’s minds, but
it’s not going to be the be-all and end all of the rand,” said
RMB trader Ian Martin.
Continued…
