The South African rand slid against major currencies as the World Bank reduced its estimate of the country’s 2026 gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

South African rand (ZAR) is little changed against the US dollar ahead of key economic data scheduled for release on Thursday.  The local unit traded rangebound in yesterday’s session and is little changed this morning, First National Bank (FNB) said in a note.

The dollar comes under pressure on Wednesday amid a surge in U.S. inflation, buoyed by a global energy crisis. The US dollar index, which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is down 0.1% to 99.8 on Wednesday as US inflation data surged to a three-year high.

The South African rand trades flat on Wednesday after the country reported 0.5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of 2026.

The South African rand is trading flat against crosses on Monday as a surprise US May jobs report fueled a broad dollar rally and crushed emerging-market currencies.

The naira softened against the US dollar as international payments outweighed FX liquidity at the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) on Friday, according to an official report from the authority.