load shedding eskom rand

Photo: Pixabay

Mid-Term budget speech: Rand takes a tumble after Mboweni’s statement

The rand rollercoaster took us all for another ride during the Mid-Term budget speech. It’s a shame we aren’t able to get off, though.

load shedding eskom rand

Photo: Pixabay

Well, we were expecting a downbeat Mid-Term budget speech, and the rand seems to have followed suit. Tito Mboweni’s fiscal fixes may have long-term value for South Africa, but there’s a pang of short-term pain for the economy.

The finance minister delivered his forecast to a packed National Assembly. His address, while engaging and fair, didn’t do much to perk up the ZAR. There was a 2% drop against the dollar during the statement, as the South African currency lost 30 cents against its American counterpart.

Rand to dollar value and exchange rate for
Wednesday 24 October

Before Mid-Term budget speech:

The rand clawed back 20 cents against the dollar over the 24 hours before Mboweni’s speech, where it stood at R14.18. The 1.5% improvement versus the greenback came after a relatively stable period for the ZAR.

Elsewhere, the rand looked a little healthier against the pound, coming in at R18.31. It also pushed the Euro down to R16.16, following a positive week against the major currency.

During Mid Term budget speech:

It took just five minutes of Mboweni’s speech to wipe out the gains made on Tuesday, though. The rand broke the R14.36 mark against the dollar almost immediately. We saw the rand drop to as low as R14.39 shortly after that.

However, there was a brief rally when Mboweni announced there would be an investigation into the Giyani water project, which has been plagued by corruption. It managed to claw a few cents back, but it wasn’t to last. At 14:37, the rand broke the R14.40 mark against the dollar.

At 14:44, as Mboweni declared his intentions to stick by VBS Bank and their “model”. That sent ZAR up to R14.46 against the greenback, pushing the unfavoured R14.50 mark.

After Mid-Term budget speech

The rand eventually shored at R14.40 by 15:38 SAST, 30 minutes after Tito Mboweni’s address had ended.

(OANDA)

Elsewhere, ZAR slumped by 26 cents against the Euro, plunging to R16.42. It’s loss to the British Pound was just as bad, dropping down to R18.60. Shame, this really wasn’t an easy gig.

Current rand value

  • Dollar: R14.40
  • Euro: R16.42
  • Pound: R18.60