No respite for rand despite worst streak since 2001

Johannesburg

RISKS are building for the South African rand, threatening to provoke a fifth year of declines amid the nation's worst economic performance since the 2009 recession.

Deficits in the budget and current account are weighing on the country's credit ratings, while periodic power shortages may crimp growth as they disrupt industry, businesses and consumers. The rand, in the midst of its longest run of annual declines since 2001, is also being buffeted by a rising government debt burden just as prospects for higher US interest rates fuel gains in the dollar.