JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand was trading near a three-year low in early trade on Thursday, under pressure from the worst power cuts on record that experts say could get worse in the coming months.

Investor sentiment towards the rand has soured badly this week, pushing the currency to its lowest level against the dollar since May 2020 on Wednesday.

The rand is down almost 3% this week against the greenback, underperforming emerging market peers.

At 0606 GMT on Thursday the rand was trading at 18.9075 to the U.S. dollar, more 0.2% than weaker than its previous closing level.

The dollar was marginally stronger against a basket of major currencies, as traders assessed the implications of slowing U.S. inflation for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

South Africa’s struggling state utility Eskom is currently implementing scheduled blackouts lasting more than 10 hours a day for many households and businesses.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to answer questions from lawmakers on his government’s efforts to ease the crippling power shortage from 1200 GMT.

On the economic data front, March mining output will be released at 0930 GMT and March manufacturing production around 1100 GMT.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly weaker in early deals, as the yield was up 4 basis points to 10.600%.