Mining Charter rattles the rand
The local currency has got a busy week off to a shaky start, with the Reserve Bank quarterly bulletin the key feature in local economic news
The rand was on shaky ground on Monday morning, at the start of a fairly busy week in terms of local economic data. The local currency was vulnerable to news about the new version of the Mining Charter, which has been a subject of controversy since it was gazetted last week. The charter, which requires mining groups to increase their black ownership from 26% to 30% over 12 months, resulted in a sharp decline in some of the JSE-listed mining shares, which contributed to a drop in the rand last week. The rand was hovering near R12.81/$ on Monday morning, after strengthening to R12.56/$ last week, its best level since March. Markets will also monitor the release of the Reserve Bank’s quarterly bulletin on Tuesday, in particular figures on the country’s current account. Trading Economics expects the current account deficit to have risen to R90bn in the first quarter, from R76bn in the fourth quarter. Global factors will also probably play a key part in the currency markets, with Brexit ...
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