South Africa's government said it will cut the fixed-rate bonds it sells each week by 600 million rand to 1.950 billion rand ($119.08 million) from November 3, and reduce inflation-linked bond offerings by 100 million rand to 900 million rand from October 30. It also launched a bond buyback programme to repurchase some debt before maturity, which will smooth large repayments ahead, as part of efforts to show fiscal discipline and bring down debt, announced alongside a mid-year budget review. The benchmark 2035 government bond rallied after the announcement, with its yield falling 16 basis points to 8.575%, while the rand was broadly steady. The review projects debt repayments will more than double to 352.6 billion rand in fiscal 2029/30 from 167.6 billion rand this year, lifting the gross borrowing requirement to 586.2 billion rand, even as the budget deficit is projected to narrow.
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