JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand was steady early on Monday, ahead of central bank meetings this week that will influence the trajectory of domestic and international interest rates.
At 0630 GMT, the rand traded at 15.1175 against the dollar, not far from its 15.1050 close on Friday.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will announce its first rate decision of 2022 on Thursday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting a 25 basis points increase in the repo rate to 4.00%.
The US Federal Reserve holds a two-day policy meeting over Tuesday and Wednesday. Although markets only see a small chance of a hike, the language of the Federal Open Market Committee's statement will be scrutinised for clues about the speed and scale of future policy normalisation.
Tighter Fed policy tends to drain capital away from emerging markets like South Africa, so the outlook for US monetary policy is a major driver for rand assets.
Other potential drivers this week include the SARB's leading business cycle indicator on Tuesday, December producer inflation data on Thursday and December budget figures on Friday.
The government's 2030 bond was also little changed early on Monday, with the yield at 9.23%.
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