Rand could drop to R17.75 against the dollar, despite Ramaphosa's US trip

THE rand is set to drop further in the coming days after breaking R18 to the dollar briefly on Friday thanks to expectations that a National Budget will finally be passed on Wednesday.

- NICOLA MAWSON

The rand briefly settled at around the R18.03 to R18.05 range by early afternoon, having opened at R18.01.

Old Mutual chief economist, Johann Els, said that he wasn't surprised that the rand broke through R18. “The rand actually spent most of September and October last year below R18, in other words with a 17 handle, at one stage even going as strong as R17.11 late September last year,” he said.

Investec chief economist, Annabel Bishop, said the currency continues to “attempt to break through the R18.00 mark, a major resistance level,” after reaching R17.99 on Friday. She said that, should the inflation target be dropped, the currency will have more strength.

Consumer Price Index data is due out on the same day as National Budget 3.0, with an announcement from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to be made the following Thursday.