The South African Rand tumbled to a four-year low against the US Dollar on Wednesday as foreign investors continued to extract their funds from the country as fears over military action against Syria and labour unrest hammer risk sentiment.
The currency fell to R10.40 to the $ and could slide further to R10.60 this week.
Investors worldwide have been pulling their funds out of riskier emerging markets as uncertainty over whether the USA will continue its massive monetary easing programme and as concerns mount over the possibility of military action in the Middle East. South Africa is particularly vulnerable to the external shocks as the economy is already under heavy pressure from ongoing labour disputes and strikes in major sectors such as auto production and mining.
Long running wage disputes between employers and the country’s two biggest labour unions now threaten to spread. The argument could cause up to 335,000 workers to take strike action.
On September 2nd up to 72,000 workers from the auto sector are expected to strike after wage talks broke down. They will join employees in the auto-manufacturing, construction and aviation industries that are already on strike, while gold mines face the threat of labour action. Due to the Syrian crisis the demand for gold has climbed to a three-month high.
The Rand is now the third-weakest currency after the Turkish lira and Indian rupee among a basket of emerging market currencies trading against the Dollar.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates:
The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 10.4008 >
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 16.1138 >
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.9079 >
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.2756 >
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 8.0639
(Correct as of 12:25 pm GMT)
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