The local currency briefly touched the R19 mark against the US dollar in today’s trade.
Some market analysts attribute the latest weakness in the local currency to concerns around load shedding. Market analyst Greg Davies from Cratos Capital says the increase in the country’s growing purchase of diesel to keep the lights on is also weighing on the rand.
“We are having to buy much much more diesel than we normally would have to and the fact that we have to import all that diesel is weakening the rand and obviously going back to the Eskom situation. So that’s a concern. Foreign investors have seen quite a few of the local retailers and so on coming out with poor results on the back of the fact that they have been able to find a way around this load shedding.”
