# UPDATE 2-South African rand hits near 3-week low as Eskom steps up blackouts - Africa Breaking News | Top Stories | Political | Business | Entertainment | Sport

> The rand fell to its weakest level in almost three weeks as Eskom stepped up controlled power cuts after six generating units went offline. Eskom said it would increase load-shedding from 2,000 to 4,000 megawatts, and traders noted rising bearish bets on the currency.

- Date: 2019-02-11 · published 2019-02-11T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region South Africa · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/60882-update-2-south-african-rand-hits-near-3-week-low-as-eskom-steps-up-blackouts
- Commodities: [South African Rand (ZAR per USD)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/USDZAR.md)

## Why it matters

Power cuts weigh on South African growth and lift the rand cost of dollar-priced imports, while investor unease over state utility finances adds downside pressure on the currency.

## Read by commodity

- USDZAR: bullish ▲

## Sources

- africa.timesofnews.com: https://africa.timesofnews.com/breaking-news/update-2-south-african-rand-hits-near-3-week-low-as-eskom-steps-up-blackouts.html

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.