As global economic growth fears impacted risk sentiment, the rand fell 1% against the dollar on Friday.
The rand fell 1% to 18.7150 per dollar at 1241 GMT.
Global central institutions, notably the U.S. Federal Reserve, expressed concerns that their aggressive monetary tightening could worsen the recession.
After the comments, the safe-haven dollar rose 0.48% to 102.870 against a basket of six currencies.
“The risk aversion deepened on Friday as recession fears grow in Europe following the publication of much weaker-than-expected PMI data from the Eurozone and U.K.,” said StoneX market analyst Fawad Razaqzada in a research note.
“We have seen global equities, crude oil, and some emerging market currencies… selling off, while the U.S. dollar has rallied against most major currencies,” he continued.
Without local economic data, the risk-sensitive rand, like most emerging market currencies, follows global forces like U.S. monetary policy and the dollar.
The Top-40 (.JTOPI) and broader all-share (.JALSH) indexes on the Johannesburg stock market fell 1.5% daily and 5% since the week began.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond yield rose three basis points to 10.720%.
