(Bloomberg) -- The rand strengthened and local bond yields dropped after South Africa said it will tap its gold and foreign-exchange reserves to reduce the scale of its public debt sales. The account, which is managed by the central bank on behalf of the Treasury, holds about 500 billion rand ($26.6 billion) in unrealized profits incurred through changes in the value of the rand. From that, 150 billion rand will be used to pay down debt. “The rand and local bonds understandably rallied on the outcome which was combined with a lower debt-to-GDP profile. “Many will likely be skeptical that debt can be kept down to a lower path over the next few years,” he said.

Source: Daily Nation February 22, 2024 08:11 UTC