South Africa's rand was flat early on Friday in increasingly cautious trade ahead of the budget speech next week, which is expected to detail the progress of the country's economic recovery.
NatWest said it would wind down its Irish arm Ulster Bank, as Chief Executive Alison Rose continues to slash away at underperforming parts of the state-owned lender after it swung to a loss in 2020.
British finance minister Rishi Sunak again defended record public spending during the coronavirus pandemic after official figures on Friday showed public borrowing reached 270.6 billion pounds ($378 billion) in the 10 months to January.