South Africa's rand slumps after weak GDP data

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand slumped and bonds weakened on Tuesday after official data showed the economy contracted more sharply than expected in the first quarter.

The rand was more than 1pc weaker at 14.60 per dollar after the figures showing growth nosedived 3.2pc in January-March compared with the previous three months.

Economists had only expected a 1.7pc contraction.

Year-on-year growth in Africa's most industrialised economy was zero compared with forecasts for growth of 0.7pc.

Bonds also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year issue up 4 basis points at 8.45pc following the data release.