Rand strengthens on Cyril Ramaphosa win

0
1177

 

Bianca Botes, Corporate Treasury Management, Peregrine Treasury Solutions

The rand strengthened significantly in the lead up to the ANC elective conference with markets speculating that Cyril Ramaphosa stood a good chance to win the presidency.

This afternoon’s election announcement confirmed this. During today’s trade the rand strengthened by 2.5%, opening at R13.07/USD and trading down to R12.80/USD. Heading into the announcement the rand briefly slipped below R12.60/USD, touching on R12.58/USD and then moving back to R12.60/USD immediately following the announcement of David Mabuza as deputy president.

The move to appoint Cyril Ramaphosa as the new ANC president will serve not only to revitalise positive sentiment towards the governing party, but also towards the South African economy as a whole. It is now up to Cyril Ramaphosa and his top six to drive pro-economic policy, and implement policy that will support equality.