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| ©REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/Illustration |
The South African rand hit a new all-time low against the dollar on Friday, widening yesterday's sharp decline.
On Thursday, the US ambassador said he believed Russian ships had taken up arms in South Africa last year.
The U.S. claim came when investor sentiment in South Africa had already soured after the world's worst power outage and showed no signs of abating.
The office of President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday that the South African government would launch an independent investigation led by a former judge into alleged arms shipments to Russia.
As of 7:10 p.m. GMT on Friday, the rand was down about 1% against the US dollar from its previous close of R19.3900, down more than 5% since the start of the week. South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) could rise 0.2% in 2023, up from 0.3% previously expected, owing to the forecast of more severe power outages, JPMorgan said in a research note on Friday gave an outlook.
