South African Rand Slips
The South African rand was the top decliner among emerging-market currencies Wednesday, hit by concerns about the government's budget forecasts and broader worries about political uncertainty in Italy and the U.S.</br></br>On Wednesday, South Africa's government released budget figures that reaffirmed some of the biggest problems plaguing Africa's biggest economy, especially its budget deficit. The finance ministry revised its forecast for the budget deficit for fiscal year 2012-2013 to 5.2% of gross domestic product from 4.8%, but some analysts said the deficit could surprise and come in even worse than that.</br></br>There was also an upward revision in expected government revenues for this fiscal year, which might be too optimistic, analysts said.</br></br>"The fact is that the economy is running below potential. It's not a rosy background," said Guillaume Tresca, emerging market currency strategist at Credit Agricole.</br></br>The rand slid 0.3% against the dollar, which traded at ZAR8.8472 Wednesday, according to CQG.