A busy week for central banks has seen the rand slide nearly 4% from under R13 to the dollar on Monday to R13.44 to the dollar on Friday morning. The rand was trading at R15.55 to the euro and R17.81 to the pound at 7am. The Bank of Japan held its interest rate at minus 0.1% as expected on Friday at 5am Johannesburg time. The Japanese central bank’s key short-term interest rate has been -0.1% since January 2016. Japan is one of three countries where central banks have responded to deflation by setting their interest rates at less than zero. Sweden’s Riksbank has set its interest rate to -0.5% and Switzerland’s central bank charges -0.75%. The European Central Bank held its interest rate at zero on Thursday, a level it has kept since March 2016. The country with the highest central bank rate at the moment is Turkey at 17.75%, followed by Mexico at 7.5% and Russia at 7.25%. SA, Brazil and Indonesia tie in fourth place with central bank interest rates of 6.5%. Fresh tariff threats from...
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