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The rand was hovering near a three-month low on Thursday after being hit by a double-whammy of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of new and higher tariffs and the passing of a contentious budget vote that has threatened the ruling coalition’s future. At 10.11am, the rand traded at R18.90/US$, not far from its previous close. It hit R19.01/$ earlier in the day, its weakest since mid-January. On Wednesday, Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US, and higher duties on dozens of countries, including South Africa, which was hit with a 30% rate. At 10.11am, the rand traded at R18.90/US$, not far from its previous close. It hit R19.01/$ earlier in the day Trump said the tariffs were a response to duties and other non-tariff barriers put on US goods. South Africa’s parliament had earlier passed the budget’s fiscal framework on Wednesday after weeks of political wrangling, but the second biggest party in the coalition, the business-friendly Democratic Alliance, voted against the measure and said it would challenge the outcome in court. The rand gradually weakened over the course of the day on Wednesday as markets fears grew that the DA may potentially exit the coalition, and went into freefall after the tariff announcement. It slipped as much as 2.6% against the dollar. On the stock market, the Top-40 index was down about 2.5%. Read: Rand could be headed higher if policy reforms stick South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker in early deals, with the yield up 7.5 basis points to 9.39%. — Sfundo Parakozov and Bhargav Acharya, (c) 2025 Reuters Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here . Don’t miss: Outdated and costly: why South Africa should rethink digital migration
