At 1548 GMT, the rand traded at 18.7475 against the dollar , about 1.2% weaker than its previous close.their aggressive monetary tightening could push economies into a deeper downturn.
The safe-haven dollar was buoyed by the comments and was last trading up 0.52% at 102.920 against a basket of six currencies. "The risk aversion deepened on Friday as recession fears grow in Europe following the publication of much weaker-than-expected PMI data from the Eurozone and UK," wrote Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at StoneX, in a research note.
"We have seen global equities, crude oil and some emerging market currencies... selling off, while the US dollar has rallied against most major currencies," he added. The risk-sensitive rand, like most emerging market currencies, often takes cues from global drivers such as U.S. monetary policy and the dollar in the absence of local economic data points.