The South African rand was trading around 16.4 against the USD, the lowest since October 2020, pressured by severe power cuts in the country, as state-owned Eskom contends with multiple plant breakdowns due to labour protests over wages. There is widespread concern that the current round of load-shedding could have long-term effects on the country's economic growth. The currency was also pressured by the dollar strength amid the Fed's firm hawkish stance and fears of global recession. Meanwhile, South Africa’s higher-than-expected inflation data in June points to a further interest rate hike in July. The South African Reserve Bank last month unveiled its biggest rate increase in more than six years and signaled further rate hikes in the context of the gradual policy normalization.
Historically, the South African Rand reached an all time high of 19.35 in April of 2020. South African Rand - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on July of 2022.
The South African Rand is expected to trade at 16.59 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 17.43 in 12 months time.