# The South African rand has weakened to its lowest level in almost three weeks as rising tensions in the Middle East boosted the US dollar and increased expectations of higher American interest rates. The local currency yesterday at one stage traded just below 16-rand-50-cents to the dollar ahead of the release of South Africa’s mining production figures and key US inflation data. Higher oil prices and uncertainty over global markets have put pressure on emerging market currencies.
Rand under pressure amid global market uncertainty