Johannesburg - The rand traded close to last week's three-week high against the US dollar on Monday, although market watchers expected pressure on the currency as power shortages rekindled concerns about an ailing economy.
Economists polled by Reuters last week expected the economy to have grown by just 1.3 percent in the third quarter of this year, after ticking up just 1 percent in the second.
Statistics South Africa is due to release the GDP data on Tuesday.
The rand traded at 10.9260 to the dollar by 08:48 SA time, 0.2 percent firmer than its previous close but slightly off Friday's three-week high of 10.9055.
“With a lack of notable events today, we believe that rand participants will pay most attention to tomorrow's domestic and international GDP readings,” Barclays Africa said in a note.
“We believe that from a growth differential perspective, rand risk lies in a softer print.”
Africa's most developed economy has struggled to grow significantly since a 2009 recession, hampered partly by electricity utility Eskom's inability to meet demand since 2008.
On Sunday, Eskom declared a power “emergency” and told large industrial users to cut their consumption by up to 10 percent to ease pressure on the strained national grid.
Government bonds were flat in early Monday trade, with the yield for the benchmark paper maturing in 2026 quoted at 7.715 percent. - Reuters