Rand drops amid continued uncertainty in Greece

The monetary unit of the largest economy on the African continent dropped to its lowest value against the world's reserve currency on Thursday, lowered by creditor nations in Europe toiling to surmount splinters and hitches regarding the bailout for Greece, Bloomberg reports.

The South African rand scraped its lowest value since January 26 as demand for assets considered more risky reduced on foreign exchange markets. The monetary unit also lost value against the shared currency of the European Union.

"We are now solidly in a risk-off environment due to Greek concerns," states an email from currency strategists John Cairns and Josina Solomons with Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg to Bloomberg. "Global markets haven’t taken these concerns very well, with all risky assets taking a hit."

The price of copper, nickel and platinum also fell on Thursday, representing the second time this week raw materials have slipped. South Africa indicates 64 percent of the nation's exports in 2011 were commodities.

Reuters reports the bailout for which Greece has approved deep austerity cuts and on which the Aegean nation is relying to ensure it does not default on loan obligations is scheduled for next week.