Rand to dollar exchange rate

The Rand has reached levels last seen at the start of the pandemic – Image via Adobe Stock

Dollar to rand exchange rate – fears rise for ZAR as it nears ‘R20/$1’

The rand is trapped in it’s own ‘horror movie within a horror movie’. ZAR is in freefall against the dollar, as our exchange rate sets another all-time low.

Rand to dollar exchange rate

The Rand has reached levels last seen at the start of the pandemic – Image via Adobe Stock

We’ve seen some unprecedented moves from the rand over the past few weeks, and none of it has been good news. Crippled by the global financial crisis, the exchange rate against the US dollar has crumbled.

Exchange rate latest news and upates

ZAR has smashed its record low value against the greenback. In March, it breached the R18-mark, then went past R18.50, and over the weekend, it’s tumbled through the R19 barrier. The misery has been non-stop for South Africa’s markets, which might be a tad unfair considering Mzansi’s responsible actions in implementing a lockdown.

But, as if a worldwide fiscal meltdown wasn’t enough, South Africa has also been relegated to junk status by credit ratings agency Moody’s at the start of this month. Fitch also downgraded the country’s credit rating, as the great rand sell-off continues unabated… and it’s been catastrophic for our currency.

Dollar to rand exchange rate for Monday 6 April

As of 8:50 on Monday morning, the rand currently stands R19.18/$. At the start of the year, our exchange rate was at R14 – and even then, we were complaining about ZAR’s poor performance. The blight of load shedding, small growth forecasts and a stagnant economy had already knocked South Africa off balance.

Other markets have been a horror show, too. There’s no relief against the British pound, as we are currently trading at R23.44. Surprisingly, this isn’t a worst-ever performance against the pond sterling. That came in December 2015, when we breached the R24-mark. Ah, the perks of having a three-day finance minister.

Rand crumbles against other major currencies – including a new record low vs the Euro

Sadly, we do have another all-time low with a different major currency: The euro is now worth R20.69, some R3 worse-off than the previous record set in January 2016. The picture is truly miserable for ZAR right now, and looking at our year-to-day (YTD) changes is an exercise in masochism: