Rate Bets Pushed Out as South African Blackouts Hurt Factories
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Rolling power blackouts in South Africa risk dragging manufacturing back into recession just as the industry recovers from strikes, complicating the central bank’s job as it seeks to raise interest rates.
Investors have pushed out their expectations of the first rate increase, with forward-rate agreements used to speculate on borrowing costs pricing in a 25 basis-point adjustment in six months’ time. At the end of March, they signaled an increase in July.