JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand firmed early on Monday as the dollar eased, with market focus in the week on domestic inflation data and the central bank's monetary policy meeting.

At 0625 GMT, the rand traded at 15.3050 against the dollar, 0.23% firmer than its previous close.

The dollar eased back from near an almost 16-month high versus major peers on Monday, as traders awaited fresh clues on the U.S. economy after bringing forward bets last week for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike on the back of red-hot inflation.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) starts its three-day monetary policy committee meeting on Tuesday, with the decision on interest rates due on Thursday.

A Reuters poll found that thirteen of 20 economists surveyed between Nov. 10-12 said the repo rate would be kept unchanged at 3.50%, while the other seven predicted a hike of 25 basis points.

S.Africa's rand firms in early trade as risk appetite returns

But in an extra question answered by 12 economists, a median of responses suggested there was an almost 50% chance the SARB would hike interest rates at this meeting.

Prior to that, eyes will be on consumer price inflation numbers and retail sales figures due to Wednesday.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 maturity was down a single basis point to 9.39%.