johannesburg july 21 reuters  south africas rand was set to end the week slightly firmer after inflation fell back within target and the central bank decided to pause interest rate hikes at 0725 gmt on friday the rand traded at 178800 against the dollar  around 03 stronger than its previous close it has gained around 1 against the greenback this week the south african reserve bank sarb on thursday held its interest rate steady at 825 its first pause since november 2021 that came after figures showed consumer inflation for june eased to 54 back into the central banks target range of 36 central bank governor lesetja kganyago said the interest rate pause did not mean an end to the hiking cycle but rand merchant bank rmb analysts said the market was not pricing in further hikes all told the rand continues to do extremely well they added in their research note south africas benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger in early deals with the yield down 3 basis point to 10325